Experience Nutrition

Tag: CSA

Experience Nutrition Farm-to-Table Recipes with The Farm at South Mountain Fall CSA: Roast Radishes & Turnips
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author
This Fall season in Phoenix, Arizona, I’ve been intuitively creating dishes with the beautiful veggies grown at The Farm at South Mountain CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Thanks so much to Billy Anthony for his hard work and passion to grow such incredible, tasty food at the Soil & Seed Garden.

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

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

The Vibrant Scarlet Turnips

The Beautiful Black Spanish & French Breakfast Radishes

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

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

Simple Ingredients
- 1 black Spanish Radish, cut into circles
- 3 French Breakfast radishes, sliced
- 1 purple daikon radish, sliced into circles
- 3-4 Scarlet turnips with greens, sliced
- Handful chives
- 1 purple bell pepper, sliced
- 1 sweet potato, roughly cubed
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3-4 tbsp seasoning, blend of dried herbs and sea salt. (Used Penzey’s Fox Point Seasoning)
Simple Steps
- Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Slice all veggies.
- In small bowl, thoroughly coat each vegetable with olive oil and seasoning.
- Place vegetables on parchment-lined sheet pan, without touching.
- Roast 15 minutes.
- Remove cooked vegetables, such as chives and turnips.
- Flip remaining vegetables.
- Cook another 12 minutes.
- Plate and enjoy.
Veggies, ready for the oven.

The roasted veggies, ready for plating.

Time to enjoy the roasted veggies…

One more plate…quite rustic…

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

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November 17, 2018
Experience Nutrition: Simple Vegan Herb Cashew Dip. Purple Daikon & Bok Choy with The Farm at South Mountain Fall CSA
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author
I am so honored to create recipes for The Farm at South Mountain Fall CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). This week, the CSA, grown by Billy Anthony at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm, features lots of fresh aromatic herbs – basil, onion chives, lemon verbena – and beautiful purple veggies including daikon radish, turnips, and purple bok choy.

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

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

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

Beauty of the Purple Bok Choy

BASIL, ONION CHIVES, LEMON VERBENA DIP

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 2-4 hours
- ¼ cup fresh basil
- 3 tbsp onion chives
- 1 spring lemon verbena
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp fresh key lime or lemon juice
- Pinch sea salt
- 2-3 tbsp water
- 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 daikon radish
- 3-4 bok choy leaves
SIMPLE STEPS
- Pre-soak cashews for 2-4 hours in water
- Place basil, onion chives, lemon verbena, nutritional yeast, key lime (or lemon juice), sea salt, and water into food processor.
- Pulse to desired smoothness.
- Stream in olive oil, to desired taste.
- Thinly slice daikon radish with mandoline.
- Plate dip, daikon radish on bok choy leaves.
- Enjoy!
Food Process the herbs, cashews, nutritional yeast, key lime, salt, and water. Stream in olive oil.

Mandoline the Purple Daikon

The Herb Cashew Dip Plating with Purple Daikon & Bok Choy

Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

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

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

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

A final look at the Vegan Herb Cashew Dip with Purple Daikon & Bok Choy.
November 7, 2018
A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Get to Know Farmers’ Markets and CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture)
by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
This evening I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Living an Edible Landscape Life with urban gardener Joan Baron, sponsored by the Scottsdale Green Building Program.

Today, Joan Baron shared key tips to start a home garden in Arizona (which I’ll share in another blog). We also cooked a simple salad with Joan’s just-harvested greens, 3-ingredient salad dressing (Meyer lemon, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, plus fresh mint), and a beautiful veggie saute with green onions, spring garlic, tomatoes, golden and striped beets, carrots, and watermelon radish.

During the evening we discussed the value of shopping for local, in-season food at farmers’ markets and CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture). I promised a few of the attendees at the workshop that I’d blog about farmers’ markets and CSA’s…

Excerpt from “A New View of Healthy Eating”

Shop at Farmers’ Markets in Your Area

As demand for locally grown fruit and vegetables has increased, farmers’ markets have steadily grown in number throughout the last few decades. According to the USDA Farmers Market Directory, in June 2017 there were 8,687 registered farmers’ markets as compared to 1,744 in 1994—an increase of more than 7,000 in 23 years. In addition to the USDA Farmers Market Database, another source to find farmers’ markets in your area is www.localharvest.org.

Favorite Phoenix Farmers’ Markets

We are so fortunate in the Phoenix area, as we have farmers’ market across the Valley of the Sun every Saturday, and even have a few mid-week markets. I recommend shopping at a farmers’ market that’s convenient and to getting to know your local farmers.

I live in the South Phoenix area and my favorite markets are:
- Downtown Phoenix Openair Market, Central and McKinley, Phoenix, Saturday, 8am-1pm
- Scottsdale Old Town Farmers’ Market, 1^st Street and N. Brown, Saturday, 8am-1pm
- Uptown Farmers’ Market, Central and Bethany Home, Phoenix, Saturday and Wednesday 9am-1pm, Wednesday, 9am-1pm
- Ahwatukee Market, 48^th Street and Warner, Tempe, Sunday, 9am-1pm
In addition to farmers’ market it’s great to buy a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

Excerpt from “A New View of Healthy Eating

Commit to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Share

Developed in the 1960’s in Japan, CSA programs are designed to build a relationship between the farmer and the community. At the beginning of each season, farmers sell CSA memberships to consumers. Each week, customers receive a sampling of produce that is available from one farmer or a group of local farmers. CSAs cost $25 to $35 per week for six to eight weeks and are perfect for those of us who wish to experiment with unique, interesting, locally grown food. Farmers distribute CSA’s at farms, farmers’ markets, and convenient pick-up locations, such as yoga studios. Some farms even deliver CSA’s right to your home.

Great CSA’s in Phoenix

Since I primarily shop with our local Phoenix farmers for both my personal cooking and cooking classes, I’m very familiar with our local organic small farmers. A few of my farmer friends offer CSA’s. If you’re in the Phoenix area, check out the CSA’s from these farmers and know that you do not need to live near their farms, as they have various pick-up locations around the Valley.
- Maya’s Farm, South Phoenix. My favorites: Fresh herbs, flowers, edible flowers. www.mayasfarm.com
- Steadfast Farm, Queen Creek. My favorites: Yellow and orange carrots, Romanesco. www.stead-fast-farm.com
- Blue Sky Organic Farms, Litchfield. My favorites: Dinosaur kale, dandelion greens. blueskyorganicfarms.com
ACTION: I invite you to shop at your local farmers’ markets and/or support your local farmers’ by participating in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture.)
February 1, 2018
A New View of Healthy Eating: 5 Phoenix Farmers’ Markets & 5 Ways to Shop for Real Whole Foods
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
The Fall is such an incredible time in Arizona as our local farmers’ bounty is growing and it’s so beautiful to enjoy local in-season produce at our farmers’ markets around town. At this time of year, we have many different farmers’ markets. In addition to purchasing real whole foods at farmers’ markets you can commit to a CSA, join a community garden, plant your own, and visit local farms. Enjoy shopping and enjoy your food!

5 Favorite Farmers’ Markets
- Downtown Phoenix Openair Market, Saturday, 8am-1pm, Central and Pierce Street
- Uptown Market, Saturday & Wednesday, 9am-apm, Central and Bethany Home
- Ahwatukee Market, Sunday, 9am-1pm, Warner & 48^th Street
- Mesa Community Market, Friday, 9am-1pm, 20 E. Main Street
- Old Towne Scottsdale Market, Saturday, 8am-1pm, 3806 N. Brown Avenue
EXCERPT from A New View of Healthy Eating

5 Best Ways to Shop for Real Whole Foods

1. Shop at Farmers’ Markets in Your Area

As demand for locally grown fruit and vegetables has increased, farmers’ markets have steadily grown in number throughout the last few decades. According to the USDA Farmers Market Directory, in June 2015 there were 8,260 registered farmers’ markets as compared to 1,744 in 1994—an increase of more than 6,000 in 21 years. In addition to the USDA Farmers Market Database, another source to find farmers’ markets in your area is www.localharvest.org.

2. Commit to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Share

Developed in the 1960’s in Japan, CSA programs are designed to build a relationship between the farmer and the community. At the beginning of each season, farmers sell CSA memberships to consumers. Each week, customers receive a sampling of produce that is available from one farmer or a group of local farmers. CSAs cost $25 to $35 per week for six to eight weeks and are perfect for those of us who wish to experiment with unique, interesting, locally grown food. Farmers distribute CSA’s at farms, farmers’ markets, and convenient pick-up locations, such as yoga studios. Some farms even deliver CSA’s right to your home.

For the winter 2016 season in Arizona, I committed to a 12-week CSA share from Maya’s Farm, just a mile from my home in Phoenix. I love knowing that the produce is fresh since it is harvested the day before I pick it up at The Farm at South Mountain. Each week the interesting variety of goodies in my CSA encourages me to create new, intuitive dishes with different combinations of food. While writing this week, I’m creating a stir-fry with cauliflower, fresh peas, white icicle radish, green garlic, onions, and dill. Fresh flowers are a nice bonus I receive in my CSA. I’m enjoying the incredible natural aromatherapy of chamomile in my home. I’m steeping sun-dried tea, and I will dehydrate some of the chamomile flowers for tea.

3. Join a Community Garden

The National Garden Association estimates that there are three million community gardens in the United States. Community gardens are fun, as you can learn from other do-it-yourself gardeners, enjoy friendships, and experience the mindful meditation of gardening in a beautiful, close-to-the-earth setting.

4. Grow Your Own

Gardening is a big trend. As more and more people eat real whole foods, they are taking their food literally into their hands. The National Garden Association estimates that 42 million households in the United States garden, an increase of 17 percent over 2008 numbers, and 37 million households are home gardening. Gardening takes us back to the basics of eating fresh whole foods.

5. Visit Local Farms

It’s a lot of fun to visit farms in your area to get to know the farmers and to see where your local produce grows. I am so fortunate that there are many outstanding farms in the Phoenix area, where I live. Farms today are reaching consumers in exciting ways: stores at farms, farmers’ markets at farms, pick-your-own produce, and even “honor system” farm stands.

Many of the recipes and culinary creations in my book, A New View of Heathy Eating are inspired by and created with local, in-season Arizona veggies. The book is now available to ship to you!
October 19, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating 12-Week Arizona Winter CSA: Part 3: Week 2: Edible Flowers

By Melanie Albert, Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC.
During Week 2 of 12 weeks with my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) from Maya’s Farm at The Farm at South Mountain, I was so excited about the beautiful, colorful edible flowers in the salad. All my life I wanted to enjoy edible flowers in my home, and this was the week! Just like fresh farmers’ market produce the edible flowers create a rainbow of beauty and color in our salads.

When I stopped by The Farm at South Mountain on my way to teach a cooking class at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, Maya Daily, the farmer, who has been urban farming for 10 years was getting her market ready for the morning customers.

Week 2 CSA. Full of greens, roots and citrus: green curly kale, red Swiss chard, baby bok choy, salad mix with edible flowers, mini golden beets, red radishes, Arizona oranges, green garlic, and a fresh flowers.

Veggie Stir-fry. This week I prepared another veggie stir-fry, which is a simple way to cook all kinds of roots and greens. This time it was inspired by the mini golden beets (about the size of my thumb) and mini bok choy, with fresh garlic and Arizona oranges. Click on CSA Week 1 to learn the steps to create your own intuitive stir-fry.

Hand-toss Salad Greens. I was so excited about the salad greens with edible flowers and created a very quick and simple salad dressing with freshly squeezed orange, organic extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic and sea salt. Unlike kale salads, where we massage the kale to marinate and soften its fiber, the key to dressing light salad greens is to gently hand-toss the greens, coating every leaf, right before serving. I enjoyed this very simple salad with farmers’ market tomatoes and cucumber.

Salad mix with edible flowers and orange garlic dressing.

Hummus with Edible Flowers. This week in a whole food cooking class that I teach at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe, Arizona, we held a hummus cooking off, which motivated me to make a hummus. Of course, the hummus I created featured the edible flowers and simple green salad. This hummus was so beautiful. It was actually a little hard to stop looking at its beauty and eat it. I totally enjoyed it, along with a second serving and left-overs.

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Click for simple hummus recipe, which is the same recipe we used for catering at the VIP Tailgate Party at Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.

ORDER NOW! Our “A New View of Healthy Eating, A 55-Card Deck” with motivational food, eating, culinary, and self care tips is available.

Come on over to Facebook www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating and share your food creations with local farmers produce.

To read all of the blogs for my 12 Week Commitment to the Arizona Winter CSA.

Week 1:Part 1: Learn about CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture

Week 1: Part 2: Veggie Stir-fry

March 4, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: 12-Week Arizona CSA, Week 1: Veggie Stir-fry

By Melanie Albert, Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC.
During Week 1 of 12 weeks with my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) from Maya’s Farm at the Farm at South Mountain, only a mile from my Phoenix home, I created one of my favorite simple intuitive creations from the CSA: simple veggie stir-fry.

Simple Veggie Stir-fry
Have fun preparing a quick delicious stir-fry with a few simple steps. The key is to be organized. Pre-chop all your ingredients, and set up your mise en place (all ingredients in place) for your cooking before you start your stir-fry.

To create a simple veggie stir-fry chose a few of your local in-season veggies, some roots and some greens. This stir-fry was inspired by the baby bok choy and fresh green garlic in this week’s CSA. Added to the stir-fry were some other veggies from local farmers, along with sun-dried tomatoes and capers. During the middle of the stir-fry I decided to add a little fresh lemon to de-glaze the pan and to add local Arizona citrus to the dish.

Simple Ingredients
• Organic extra virgin olive oil
• Green garlic
• Brussels sprouts
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Capers
• Asparagus
• Baby bok choy
• Sea salt
• Fresh lemon (extra!)

Simple Steps
• Gather your mise en place.
• Pre-heat saute pan on medium-high.
• Pour organic extra virgin olive oil into the pan.
• Add the aromatics (green garlic) and cook a few minutes.
• Add veggies you’d like to brown a little (Brussels sprouts).
• Add dense veggies that need to cook a little longer (carrots, cauliflower).
• Add extras (sun-dried tomatoes, capers).
• Add vegetables that do not need to cook very long (asparagus, bok choy).
• Enjoy!

This stir-fry (really quick saute) method and recipes are in my new book “A New View of Healthy Eating” to launch in April 2016.

Week 1: Arizona CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Simple Stir-fry

Hope you enjoy your own stir-fry this week! Come on over to Facebook and share your creations: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

Join our e-newsletter list for recipes, simple healthy culinary techniques, intuitive cooking, nutrition tips, mindful eating and self care. www.EXPNutrition.com

February 26, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: 12-Week Arizona Winter CSA: Part 1
Arizona Winter CSA Part 1: Organic Salad Mix with Orange Green Garlic Dressing Recipe

By Melanie Albert, Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC.2007 graduate Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Instructor Whole Foods Cooking and Conscious Eating, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. Her new book, “A New View of Healthy Eating” will be available in April 2016.

Eat Local & In Season
One of the best ways to eat local and in season is to get a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Share. Developed in the 1960’s in Japan, CSA programs are designed to build a relationship between the farmer and the community. At the beginning of each season farmers sell CSA memberships to consumers. Each week consumers receive a sampling of produce that’s available from one farmer or a group of local farmers. Cost is generally $25-35 per week for 6-8 weeks.

CSA’s are great for those of us who wish to experiment with new-to-us locally grown food. CSA’s are generally distributed at farms, farmers’ markets, convenient pick-up locations, such as yoga studios, and some farms deliver CSA’s right to your home.

My Commitment to a 12-Week CSA: A Mile from Home!
This week I committed to a CSA with Maya’s Farm at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix. Maya’s Farm is a small certified organic 7 acre farm and a quick 1 mile walk from my home. I purchased the Winter (Late February through mid-May) Arizona season for 12 weeks, at a total cost of $300, or $25 per week.

Each week, I will blog about my simple whole food intuitive creations with the Winter Arizona CSA and share recipes, simple culinary techniques and nutrition tips.

The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, AZ

Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, at Maya’s Farm, The Farm at South Mountain

Week 1: February 20, 2016: Greens, Roots, Citrus and Tomatoes
This morning, when I picked up my CSA at Maya’s Farm I was really excited to see the colorful rainbow baby carrots and smell the fresh green garlic. This week’s CSA share includes several different greens (Tuscano kale, mini bok choy, arugula, spring salad mix), rainbow baby carrots, fresh green garlic, a few tomatoes, red French breakfast radishes and different bright oranges.

Arizona Lettuce Mix

Arizona Organic Salad Mix with Orange Green Garlic Dressing Recipe
As soon as I arrived in my kitchen, the pungent aromatherapy of the fresh green garlic and sweet aroma of the oranges was the inspiration for a very simple salad. The key to a farm-fresh salad is a simple light dressing, gently tossed with salad mix and a few colorful veggies.

Orange Green Garlic Dressing

Simple Ingredients
• Orange, freshly squeezed
• Twice as much organic extra virgin olive oil (eg. 1/8 cup orange juice: ¼ cup olive oil)
• Pinch sea salt
• Fresh green garlic, minced

Simple Steps
• Squeeze orange into jar.
• Add olive oil.
• Add sea salt and garlic.
• Shake.
• Taste. Add additional oil for more fat or orange juice for more acid.

Arizona Winter Organic Salad
Simple Ingredients
• 2 cups salad mix
• 3-4 rainbow carrots, sliced
• 3-4 red radishes, sliced
• 1-2 tomatoes

Simple Steps
• Gently toss salad mix with dressing, coating all leaves.
• Add carrots, radishes, tomatoes and toss.
• Plate and enjoy.

Culinary Tips
- Lightly toss salad greens with dressing right before serving to keep leaves fresh and not soggy.
- To make a great salad dressing, use a high quality extra virgin olive oil and pair it with an acid. Use a 2:1 ratio of fat (olive oil) to acid (citrus or vinegar).
- Create a salad with a rainbow of colorful veggies for beauty and a variety of nutrients.
NOW AVAILABLE: Purchase “A New View of Healthy Eating. A-55 Card Deck” for motivational messages to inspire you to cook simple healthy whole food, try new recipes, learn simple culinary techniques and add selfcare to your life. “A New View of Healthy Eating” book to be launched April 2016.

Join our e-newsletter list for recipes, simple healthy culinary techniques, intuitive cooking, nutrition tips, mindful eating and self care. www.EXPNutrition.com

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February 20, 2016
9 Ways 90 Days: Learn to Eat Local
by Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Wellness Expert, Author, Speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition

Excerpt from book, “Enjoy Food & Life. 9 Ways 90 Day Step-by-step action plan for healthy eating & living.”

“With farmers’ markets and CSA, I’ve tried new-to-me veggies such as purslane, striped beets, purple carrots and all kinds of leafy greens,” Melanie Albert, Experience Nutrition

9 Ways 90 Days: Farmers’ Market Berkeley, CA

Great Reasons to Eat Local
- Locally grown produce is fresher, tastes better and lasts longer – It’s farm-fresh, just picked, unlike food in our grocery stores that travels an average of 1,500 miles.
- Eating local keeps us in touch with the seasons – We eat foods when they are at their peak taste, most abundant and importantly foods that grow where we live are generally what our body needs at time of the year. For instance, when it’s summer-time, much of the available food, like strawberries and watermelon tends to be light, water-rich and cooling.
- You can support your local economy.Shop at your local farmers’ market or Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
- It’s better for environment – Eating local does means your food is not traveling long distances to reach you.
Find a Farmers’ Market Near You

As demand for locally grown fruits and vegetables has increased, so too has the number of farmers’ markets across the nation. After 18 years of steady increases, the number of farmers’ markets across the country now registered with the USDA is 7,864, compared to 1,744 in 1994.

To find a local farmer’s market, visit the Local Harvest site at www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/.

Join us on Facebook and post a photo of your favorite farmers’ market.
February 8, 2014