Experience Nutrition

Category: Flatbread

  • 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.

  • Natural Awakenings Magazine: “Create Food Art with Winter Veggie Flatbread”

    Natural Awakenings Magazine: “Create Food Art with Winter Veggie Flatbread”

    Experience Nutrition In the Media!

    So humbled and honored to be featured in the media over the years. And, really excited to start 2021 with two beautiful, very appreciated highlights in our Arizona publications. And, thrilled to shoot a farm-to-table cooking tv segment with the nationally syndicated tv show The List and with the City of Peoria in 2020.

    Natural Awakenings, January 2021: “Create Food Art with Sprouted Spelt Arizona Winter Veggie Flatbread.”

    I’ve been writing plant-based farm-to-table recipe articles for the Natural Awakenings Magazine for a few years, and am happy to share with you the January 2021 article: “Create Food Art with Sprouted Spelt Arizona Winter Veggie Flatbread.”

    This article highlights the philosophy of the new Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Food Art Movement and features one of my favorite, fun-to-prepare, delicious meals: Farm-to-Table Veggie Flatbread. Thanks so much to editor Tracy Patterson for the opportunities to showcase beautiful food ideas on your publication.

    Click to read the January 2021 Natural Awakenings and the full article (page 28).

    Click to enjoy the video on the Experience Nutrition You Tube Channel.

    Please fill our the form if you’d like to interview Melanie Albert or include a recipe article for your media or organization.

     

  • Experience Nutrition: The Farm at South Mountain CSA Recipe 60: Winter Veggie Flatbread

    Experience Nutrition: The Farm at South Mountain CSA Recipe 60: Winter Veggie Flatbread

    It is my pleasure to share with you Recipe 60 created with The Farm at South Mountain CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for December 26, 2020. Enjoy the Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Winter Arizona Flatbread.

    One of our key philosophies with Experience Nutrition and Plant-Based Food Art is to start with local farmers beautiful produce, herbs, and edible flowers. When we cook with our local farmers’ just harvested produce it is fresher, more nutritious, and it has not traveled thousands to arrive at our local grocery stores.

    Supporting our local farmers by purchasing a CSA is an easy way to enjoy fresh local produce, while supporting our local farmers.

    Let’s take a look at quiet December 2020 beauty of The Farm.

     Winter CSA Week 6: 12.26.20

    • Turnips: Root & Greens
    • Kale
    • Swiss Chard
    • Grapefruit
    • Lemon Basil
    • Eggs
    The Farm at South Mountain CSA: December 26, 2020
    The sign of the times…the Coronavirus Pandemic, 2020.

    Roasted Roots & Greens Flatbread.

    One of my very favorite meals is a beautiful seasonal flatbread with the veggies our local farmers are growing. This flatbread was inspired by the turnips and kale that have been growing at The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm, along other local root veggies: carrots and sweet potatoes. Hope you enjoy creating a simple no-yeast flatbread along with the roasted roots with turmeric, and hemp seed cream.

    Steps to Prepare the Dish

    1. Make the flatbread.
    2. Roast root veggies and kale.
    3. Make the hemp seed cream.
    4. Mindfully plate your flatbread and enjoy.

    SIMPLE SPROUTED SPELT YEAST-FREE FLATBREAD CRUST

    Enjoy creating this simple flatbread when you don’t have time to wait for yeast to rise.

    Click here to see the step-by-step visuals to create the no-yeast, 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

    • Pre-heat Pizza Stone
      • Place pizza stone into the oven.
      • Pre-heat oven at 390 degrees F.
      • Pre-heat the stone for about 5 minutes.
    • Make the Crust
      • Pour the flour, baking powder, and sea salt into a large glass bowl.
      • Mix the dry ingredients with a fork to combine.
      • To the bowl, add 3/8 cup water and oil.
      • Gently knead with hands for 3-4 minutes until the dough forms a ball. Add additional water or flour, as needed.
      • With hands, flatten out the dough on floured parchment paper.
      • With parchment paper on top of the dough, roll thinly (about ¼ inch) with a rolling pin.
    • Pre-Bake the Flatbread Crust
      • With fingers, gently spread 1 tbsp of olive oil onto the flatbread.
      • Carefully move flatbread crust to the pre-heated pizza stone.
      • Bake flatbread crust for 5 minutes.
      • Remove pizza stone from oven.
    • Top the Flatbread Crust
      • Spread cashew cream on the top of the flatbread.
      • Add roasted veggies.
    • Bake the Flatbread
      • Place flatbread back onto the pizza stone and place it into the oven.
      • Bake for about 8 minutes.
      • Remove flatbread from the oven.
      • Top with kale.

    QUICK ROAST ROOTS

    Recipe Serves 2

    We’ve previously shared this simple roasted roots culinary technique. It’s a great method to pre-cook veggies for flatbread.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 2 turnips
    • 4-5 carrots
    • 1 large sweet potato
    • 1 large white onion
    • 1 ½ tsp turmeric powder
    • ¼ ground black pepper
    • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • Pinch sea salt
    Simple Roots for Roasting

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice all veggies into small pieces.
    • Place veggies into roasting pan.
    • Drizzle veggies with turmeric, pepper, sea salt and olive oil.
    • Roast 12 minutes.
    • Toss the veggies.
    • Roast another 12-15 minutes.
    Roasting Roots Mise En Place.
    Roots in the pan, with turmeric, black pepper, sea salt, and olive oil.
    Roasted roots. 425 degrees for about 20 minutes.

    QUICK ROASTED KALE

    Toss kale with drizzle of olive oil and sea salt. Roast on parchment paper for about 6-8 minutes. Toss at about 3 minutes.

    HEMP SEED CREAM

    Quick seed cream to use for a cheesy-tasting sauce for the flatbread.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • ¼ cup hemp seeds
    • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
    • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
    • 2 tbsp water
    • Pinch sea salt
    Hemp Seed Cream Mise En Place.

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Place all ingredients into a small blender.
    • Blend for about a minute or two, until creamy.
    • Add more water, as needed.
    • Add additional lemon juice or sea salt to suite your preferred taste.
    Hemp Seed Cream: All ingredients into blender. Blend about a minute or two.
    Simple Hemp Seed Cream.

    Mindfully plate your flatbread and enjoy.

    First, set you plating Mise en Place: Flatbread, Roasted Roots, Roasted Kale, Hemp Seed Cream.

    Flatbread: Mindful Mise En Place. All set to “plate” the flatbread.

    Pause and enjoy plating your Flatbread.

    Bake for another 8 minutes after plating the flatbread.

    Enjoy!

    Recipe and article created by Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO of Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona; Speaker; Award-winning Cookbook Author; Creator of the Plant-Based Food Art Movement.

    If you are interested in a virtual (or future in-person) Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Cooking Food Art Experience for your organization, please fill out the form and Melanie Albert will be in touch with you.

  • Experience Nutrition: Yeast-Free Flatbread. When you don’t have yeast in your kitchen.

    Experience Nutrition: Yeast-Free Flatbread. When you don’t have yeast in your kitchen.

    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.

    A-SedonaRetreat-s19-SatDin-flatall-DSC_7869 copy-medium
    Amazing nourishing dinner, with the Farm-to-Table Flatbread at our Fall 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreat.
    C-SedonaRetreat-S19-Cathedral-DSC_8094 copy
    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.

    To see these roasting veggie technique, click to the Spring Flatbread recipe.

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice veggies into bite-sized pieces.
    • In a bowl, gently coat veggies with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
    • Place veggies on parchment-lined flat sheet pan, flat side down with veggies not touching.
    • Roast for 12 minutes.
    • Flip veggies.
    • Roast for another 12 minutes.
    • Use veggies as flatbread toppings.

    Quick Roasted Veggies

    A very quick and easy way to roast veggies. Check out this Summer Flatbread and get the steps to quick roast veggies.

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Place veggies in roasting pan.
    • Drizzle with olive oil.
    • Sprinkle with sea salt.
    • Roast 12 minutes.
    • Toss.
    • Roast another 12 minutes.

    HEMP SEED CREAM

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 cup hemp seeds
    • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
    • 1 tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice
    • Pinch sea salt
    • ¼ cup water, adjust for desired creaminess.

    Simple Steps

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

    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

    If you are interested in joining us on a future retreat, please feel free to take a look at our Sedona Retreat page.

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC, in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, team building, and retreat leader.

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Arizona Summer Plant-Based Flatbread. Edible Flowers.

    Experience Nutrition: Arizona Summer Plant-Based Flatbread. Edible Flowers.

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

    Upon returning to Phoenix after traveling the last few weeks to my niece, Mallory’s wedding in Massachusetts, visiting with my parents in Cocoa Beach, and scouting villas for retreats in Barbados, I’m getting back into my local farm-to-table shopping and cooking rhythm.

    This week I visited my farmer friend, Billy Anthony Lead Grower at the Soil & Seed Garden at Farm at South Mountain, in Phoenix, to catch up and see what was growing in our 100 degree weather. I was especially happy to see hundreds or thousands of beautiful tomatoes, zucchini, and edible flowers.

    A-tomatoes-IMG_5207

    Inspired by the tomatoes, I intuitively created a Summer Flatbread with other veggies purchased from local Arizona farmers at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market. I purchased beautiful baby arugula and carrots from Blue Sky Organic Farms in Litchfield Park and Matt’s tomatoes from the Community Exchange.

    Let’s take a look at The Farm at South Mountain, at the beginning of our hot Arizona Summer.

    RECIPE: Arizona Summer Plant-Based Flatbread. Edible Flowers.

    The Summer Flatbread highlights our local Arizona tomatoes, zucchini, arugula, and carrots, and also features one of my favorite roasted veggies, Brussels sprouts, plus red peppers for flavor and color. The yeast-free flatbread is a quick recipe to prepare when your time is limited as we do not need to wait hours for the dough to rise. The cashew cream is a very simple raw nut cream that works well as a cheesy taste in the flatbread.  Finally, the beautiful, colorful edible flowers bring life to the dish.

    QUICK AND SIMPLE ROASTED VEGGIES

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 large tomato (The Farm at South Mountain)
    • 2 cups Brussels sprouts
    • 1 small zucchini (The Farm at South Mountain)
    • 1 carrot (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 5-6 small red peppers
    • 2 green onions
    • 2-3 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (Hatun Oregano Olive Oil)
    • 1 tsp sea salt

    A-flatbread-IMG_5421

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice all veggies.

    A-flatbread-IMG_5423

    • Place all veggies into roasting pans.
    • Drizzle with olive oil.
    • Sprinkle on sea salt.
    • Roast for 12 minutes.
    • Stir veggies.
    • Roast for another 12 minutes.
    • Use veggies as flatbread toppings.

    CASHEW CREAM

    Simple Ingredients

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

    C-cashew-IMG_5454

    Simple Steps

    • Rinse and drain the soaked cashews.
    • Pour all ingredients into a blender.
    • Blend to desired smoothness.

    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)

    Garnish Ingredients

    • 1 cup arugula (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • Matt’s tomatoes (Community Exchange, Downtown Phoenix Public Market)
    • 1 tbsp olive oil
    • Pinch sea salt
    • Edible Flowers (The Farm at South Mountain)

    G-flatbread-IMG_5486

    Simple Steps

    • Place pizza stone into oven. Pre-heat oven to 390 degrees F. Pre-bake the stone for about 5 minutes.
    • In large glass bowl, with a fork mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, olive oil, 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.

    D-flatbread-IMG_5470

    • Bake flatbread for 5 minutes.
    • Remove stone from oven.
    • Spread cashew cream on the top of the flatbread.
    • Add tomatoes, red peppers, carrots, zucchini, Brussels sprouts, and onions to the top of the flatbread.
    • Cook for about 8 minutes.
    • Garnish with arugula, drizzle of olive oil, and edible flowers.

    G-flatbread-IMG_5503

    Mindful garnishing of the flatbread.

    • Enjoy. Enjoy the beauty. Enjoy the tasty.

    H-flatbread-IMG_5585

    • Pause and enjoy the flatbread creation.

    H-flatbread-IMG_5604

    • My simple plate…

    H-flatbread-IMG_5609

    2019 Local First Arizona Independents Week: June 29 – July 6, 2019

    One-time Local Special:  Save 20%. Sedona Plant-Based Culinary Retreat, September 13-16, 2019. 

    Join us for a Memorable Plant-Based Cooking Retreat in Sedona, Arizona, September 13-16, 2019

    • Learn simple, easy plant-based cooking techniques.
    • View food differently with mindful cooking and eating.
    • Enjoy urban farm-to-table cooking experience.
    • Experience self-care with hiking and yoga.
    • Take home retreat experiences to be healthier & make positive long-term lifestyle changes.

    During our Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Fall 2019 Retreat, you’ll experience several days of hands-on, simple plant-based cooking with organic food, mindfulness in the kitchen and eating. We’ll enjoy a farm-to-table cooking experience at a local urban farm. You’ll experience self-care with hiking and yoga in the beauty of Sedona.

    In the memorable life-changing retreat, our intention is for you to enjoy the cooking and self-care experiences during the retreat and then most importantly take home the experiences and plant-based cooking learning from the retreat to make positive lifestyle changes in your lives.

    Click to learn more about the retreat on our website.

    Or, contact, Melanie Albert (Mel@MelanieAlbert.com or 602.615.2486) to answer your questions and to reserve your spot!

    IMG_4824

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Cooking with The Farm at South Mountain: Arizona Spring Flatbread

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Cooking with The Farm at South Mountain: Arizona Spring Flatbread

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

    Each week I have the incredible opportunity to intuitively create recipes with the beautiful food so passionately grown by urban farmer Billy Anthony in the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona.

    Spring Farm-to-Table Flatbread

    The beauty of the Soil & Seed Garden greens and “purple greens” were the inspiration for my weekly flatbread.

    Let’s take a look at the Spring CSA

    AA-TheFarmCSA-2019-0302-IMG_6734
    The Farm at South Mountain: CSA March 2019

    SPRING FLATBREAD RECIPE STEPS

    To prepare your Spring Farm-to-Table Flatbread, follow the following recipes to create a flatbread with your local seasonal ingredients. Please share your flatbread creations with us on www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating or tag @nutritionauthor on Instagram.

    • Roasted Veggies: Choose a few seasonal veggies, such as cauliflower, radishes, and tomatoes.
    • Sauteed Greens & Purples: Choose a few of your favorites, such as arugula, spinach, or shungiku (chrysanthemum).
    • Cashew Cream: Quick Plant-based sauce created with raw cashews.
    • Quick Yeast-Free Flatbread: Quick flatbread that takes less time that yeast flatbread.
    • Creation Video: Layering of veggies onto the flatbread.
    • Final Flatbread: A look at the cooked flatbread with sauteed greens.

    ROASTED VEGGIES RECIPE

    Simple Ingredients from the Soil & Seed Garden

    • 10-12 radishes, sliced
    • 1 small head, cauliflower, sliced

    Other Simple Ingredients

    • 2-3 small tomatoes, sliced
    • 3-4 mini sweet peppers
    • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 2-3 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 tsp sea salt
    A-veggies-IMG_6909
    Ingredients Set for the Spring Flatbread and Sauteed Greens & Purples

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice veggies into bite-sized pieces.
    B-veggies-IMG_6917
    Mise en Place: Roasted Veggies
    • In a bowl, gently coat veggies with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
    B-veggies-IMG_6919
    Add olive oil and a pinch of salt to veggies prior to roasting.
    • Place veggies on parchment-lined flat sheet pan, flat side down with veggies not touching.
    B-veggies-IMG_6924
    Place veggies on parchment-lined flat sheet, with veggies not touching.
    • Roast for 12 minutes.
    • Flip veggies.
    • Roast for another 12 minutes.
    • Use veggies as flatbread toppings.
    E-veggies-roastd-IMG_6973
    Roasted veggies are ready for the Spring flatbread.

    SAUTEED GREENS AND PURPLES

    Simple Ingredients from Soil & Seed Garden

    • 2 cups of 3-4 greens from Soil & Seed Garden, such as Shungiku, Minutina, Purple Orach, Red Spinach
    • 3-4 leaves, lemon verbena
    • 1 tsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 2-3 tbsp fresh grapefruit juice
    • Pinch sea salt
    F-greens-IMG_6977
    Mise en place for sauteed greens: Red Spinach, Purple Orach, Shungiku (Chrysanthemum), Minutina.

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat medium sauté pan on medium.
    • Add olive oil to pan.
    • Add to pan, green colored greens, lemon verbena, pinch sea salt, and 1 tbsp grapefruit juice.
    • Lightly toss the greens to cook for 2 minutes.
    • Remove greens from pan.
    • Follow same cooking steps for the purple greens.
    F-greens-IMG_6982
    Saute greens lightly and quickly with squeeze of fresh grapefruit juice and a pinch of sea salt.

    Greens & Purples Sauteed for the Flatbread

    F-greens-IMG_6992
    The beauty of the greens and purples.

    CASHEW CREAM

    Simple Ingredients

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

     

    Simple Steps

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

    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)
    D-flatbread-IMG_6936
    Mise en place set for the Yeast-free Quick Flatbread.

    Simple Steps

    • Place pizza stone into oven. Pre-heat oven to 390 degrees F. Pre-bake the stone for about 5 minutes.
    • In large glass bowl, with a fork mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt.
    D-flatbread-IMG_6938
    Mix the sprouted spelt flour, baking power, and salt. Then add olive oil and water.

     

    • 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.
    D-flatbread-IMG_6945
    Kneed the dough 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.
    D-flatbread-IMG_6951
    Roll out the flatbread 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 cashew cream on the top of the flatbread.
    • Add veggies to the top of the flatbread.
    • Cook for about 8 minutes.
    • Garnish with edible flowers.
    • Enjoy!

    Mise en Place Spring Farm-to-Table Flatbread

    G-misenplace-IMG_7002
    Mise en place to prepare the Spring Flatbread.

    Enjoy the Step-by-Step Video of Layering the ingredients on the flatbread.

    Let’s take a look a the beautiful, tasty, local Arizona flatbread.

    IJ-flatbread-cooked-top-IMG_7084
    The beauty of the Spring Farm-to-Table Flatbread.

    Mouthwatering…

    IJ-flatbread-cookedgreens-IMG_7106
    Spring Farm-to-Table Flatbread. Sauteed Greens.

     

    INTERESTED IN PLANT-BASED COOKING RETREAT IN SEDONA, September 13-16, 2019. CLICK TO LEARN MORE

    IMG_5493

     

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

    COOKING CLASSES AT THE FARM AT SOUTH MOUNTAIN IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA

    BB-04-A-06-VisitPhoenix-ExperienceNutrition-TeamBuilding-Lasagna-IMG_2111

    Purchase Tickets for Raw Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking with Melanie Albert and Soil & Seed Garden Farmer Billy Anthony. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, April 7, 2019, 10:30am-1pm

    BB-05-Kids-MelanieAlbert-A-DSC_0453 (2)Purchase Tickets for Farm-to-Table Kids Food Art Cooking at The Farm at South Mountain with Melanie Albert, Sunday, March 24, 2019, 11am-noon

     

     

    Thanks to Natural Awakenings AZ magazine for featuring my Plant-Based Chocolate Pie on the cover and Plant-Based Dessert recipes in the January 2019 issue.

    NaturalAwakeAZ-Jan19-Cover-IMG_7717 (1)
    Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table with Pomegranate Café and Rhibafarms: Broccoli & Cauliflower Flatbread

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table with Pomegranate Café and Rhibafarms: Broccoli & Cauliflower Flatbread

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

    I absolutely love beautiful local Arizona farmers’ food and feel so humbled and honored to cook with it.  I am so honored to intuitively prepare one of my favorite meals – flatbread – inspired by the POM Rhibafarms Box, with produce grown by farmer Mark Rhine at Rhibafarms in San Tan Valley, Arizona and in collaboration with the Pomegranate Café, in Ahwatukee, Arizona owned by Cassie and Marlene Tolman.

    This week (2.8.19) with the POM Rhibafarms Box I am especially in awe of the fresh broccoli and cauliflower. Since the beginning of January 2019, I’ve been creating a new seasonal flatbread each week. Naturally, the plant-based flatbread features these beautiful veggies.

    Made a quick stop at Pomegranate Cafe to pick up this week’s POM Rhibafarms Box…

    BB-POM-020719-IMG_3130
    The healthy, welcoming Pomegranate Cafe, Ahwatukee, Arizona.
    BB-POM-BOx-MA-IMG_3133
    The POM Rhibafarm Box 2.8.19…”Especially grown for Pome/Rhiba Family”…I feel special. Thanks so much to Mark Rhine.
    BB-POM-Box-list-020819-IMG_3131
    The POM Box 2.8.19 Winter Arizona goodness.

    The beautiful ingredients in this week’s POMBox.

    Mark, thanks so much for your dedication in growing the beautiful food for our community. And, Cassie, thanks so much for sharing your yummy walnut taco and pico with us this week. My mouth is watering.

    A-PomBox-2018-0208-IMG_3159
    POM Rhibafarms 020819: Trio Broccoli, Galaxy Caulflower, Purple Cabbage

    Rhibafarms Broccoli & Cauliflower Flatbread Recipe

    The beauty of Rhibafarms broccoli and cauliflower were the inspiration for my weekly flatbread. Since these veggies were so fresh, I roasted them lightly and simply with olive oil and sea salt.

    INGREDIENTS from the POM BOX

    • 1 head broccoli
    • 1 head cauliflower
    AA-Cauliflower-IMG_E2305
    Rhibafarms Cauliflower. Simple Beauty.
    AA-broccoli-IMG_E2314
    Rhibafarms Broccoli. So fresh.
    IMG_2621
    Rhibafarms Cauliflower & Broccoli

    ROASTED BROCCOLI & CAULIFLOWER

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 head broccoli, sliced and leaves
    • 1 head cauliflower, sliced and leaves
    • 2-3 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 tsp sea salt
    A-POM-CauliBroc-Mis-IMG_2631
    Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower Mise en Place. All set.

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice broccoli and cauliflower into bite-sized pieces.
    • In a bowl, gently coat broccoli and cauliflower with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
    A-POM-Cauli-Broc-IMG_2639
    Gently toss cauliflower and broccoli with olive oil and sea salt.
    • Place broccoli and cauliflower on parchment-lined flat sheet pan, flat side down with veggies not touching.
    A-POM-cauli-broc-IMG_2647
    Cauliflower and broccoli on parchment-lined sheet pan.
    • Roast for 8 minutes.
    • Flip veggies.
    • Roast for another 8 minutes.
    • Use veggies as flatbread toppings.
    A-POm-cauliflowerBroc-cooked-IMG_E2659
    The lightly roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli

    CASHEW CREAM

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 2-4 hours
    • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
    • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
    • Pinch sea salt
    • ¼ cup water, adjust for desired creaminess.
    B-cashewcream-IMG_2619
    Cashew Cream: Pre-soaked cashews, lemon, nutritional yeast, sea salt.

    Simple Steps

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

    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)
    • OPTIONAL: ¼ cup Kalamata olives, ¼ cup capers, ¼ cup dehydrated tomato slices.

    Simple Steps

    • Place pizza stone into oven. Pre-heat oven to 390 degrees F. Pre-bake the 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 cashew cream on the top of the flatbread.
    • Add broccoli, cauliflower, olives, and capers to the top of the flatbread.
    • Cook for about 8 minutes.
    • Garnish with dehydrated tomatoes.
    • Enjoy!

    This slideshow requires JavaScript.

    Yummmm…the baked beautiful POM Rhibafarms Box Roasted Cauliflower Broccoli Flatbread

    E-flatbread-final-IMG_2732
    Baked beautiful POM Rhibafarms Box Roasted Cauliflower Broccoli Flatbread

    A perfect slice…

    E-flatbread-final-IMG_2785
    Perfect slice. Cauliflower Broccoli Flatbread & Leaves.

     

    Love to cook? Check out other POM Farm Box recipes created with the beautiful Rhibafarms produce and Pomegranate Cafe goodies.

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

    Interested in the POM Rhibafarms BOX. You can purchase it right here.

    COOKING CLASSES AT THE FARM AT SOUTH MOUNTAIN IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA

    BB-002-MelanieAlbert-TomShanahanTheFarm-Feb17-2019

    Purchase Tickets for Whole Foods for Addiction Recovery with New York “Spiritual Adrenaline” Author Tom Shanahan and Phoenix cookbook author Melanie Albert. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, February 17, 2019, 11am-1pm

    Mel-Billy-Grid-1

    Purchase Tickets for Spring Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking with Melanie Albert and Soil & Seed Garden Farmer Billy Anthony. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, March 3, 2019, 10:30am-1pm

    BB-04-A-06-VisitPhoenix-ExperienceNutrition-TeamBuilding-Lasagna-IMG_2111

    Purchase Tickets for Raw Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking with Melanie Albert and Soil & Seed Garden Farmer Billy Anthony. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, April 7, 2019, 10:30am-1pm

    BB-05-Kids-MelanieAlbert-A-DSC_0453 (2)Purchase Tickets for Farm-to-Table Kids Food Art Cooking at The Farm at South Mountain with Melanie Albert, Sunday, February 10, 2019, 11am-noon

    Purchase Tickets for Farm-to-Table Kids Food Art Cooking at The Farm at South Mountain with Melanie Albert, Sunday, March 24, 2019, 11am-noon

    Thanks to Natural Awakenings AZ magazine for featuring my Plant-Based Chocolate Pie on the cover and Plant-Based Dessert recipes in the January 2019 issue.

    Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019
    Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019. Start the New Year Off Right

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

    PUBLIC COOKING CLASSES AT THE MARICOPA COUNTY LIBRARIES

    I’m honored  have been leading hands-on cooking and yoga classes with the Maricopa County Library District since 2016. For the Winter Reading Program, the class focuses on Mediterranean Plant-Based Culinary. We’ll be preparing Hempseed Tabouli, Olive Tapenade, and Herbal Hummus. Classes are Free to the Public. Call the libraries directly to make your reservation.

    • Tuesday, March 19, 2019, 5:00-6:30pm: Litchfield Park Branch Library
    • More to come in the Summer Reading Program: June & July 2019.

    IMG_1302

    FREE PUBLIC KIDS COOK CLASS AT THE DOWNTOWN PHOENIX PUBLIC MARKET

    • Saturday, February 9, 2019, 10-11am: Kids Cook at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market (14 E Pierce Street, Phoenix)