Experience Nutrition

Tag: Melanie Albert

  • Experience Nutrition: How to Stock a Healthy Plant-Based Kitchen

    Experience Nutrition: How to Stock a Healthy Plant-Based Kitchen

    To eat well, cook simple meals, and be healthy it is important to stock your kitchen with a few basic food staples, along with fresh veggies and fruit.

    The plant-based shopping list is inspired by the anti-inflammatory way of eating, the Mediterranean Diet, and the Blue Zones where people around the world live the longest healthiest lives.

    Learn to Cook. This whole food shopping list is based on staples to cook, simple, delicious meals.

    Go Slow. I do recognize that we are all at different levels of cooking knowledge and skill levels. If you are new with cooking, buy what you can and feel comfortable from the shopping list. Do not overwhelm yourself. Go slow to gradually learn some new cooking skills into your life that may last the rest of your life.

    Shopping List Guide. I personally use this shopping list as a guide and invite you to shop for what you can in your own area and based on your personal level of cooking.

    For a visual of my personal pantry, visit the Experience Nutrition You Tube Channel, and subscribe for other cooking videos.

    Key Shopping Categories

    Use the Shopping List as a guide for the ingredients to stock your pantry in the following food categories.

    • Fresh Produce: Veggies & Fruit
    • Whole Grains
    • Beans & Legumes
    • Whole Grains
    • Nuts & Seeds
    • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    • Fresh Herbs
    • Seasonings / Sea Salt
    • Dry Goods

    Fresh Produce

    Roots

    Enjoy root veggies a few simple ways: Roast, Steam, Sauté, and even Raw.

    • Carrots
    • Beets
    • Sweet potatoes
    • Radishes

    Greens & Veggies

    We can enjoy nutrient-rich greens in side dishes, soups, and veggie bowls.

    • Dark leafy greens: Kale, collards, arugula, spinach
    • Broccoli
    • Cauliflower
    • Celery
    • Lettuce
    • Tomatoes
    • Bell peppers
    • Your favorites

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    Fruit

    • Bananas (freeze some for smoothies)
    • Apples
    • Lemons, limes (important for salad dressings)
    • Avocados
    • Dates
    • Your favorite fruits, for snacking
    • Frozen fruit: Mixed or separate berries, such as blackberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries

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    Whole Grains

    Choose a few different types of whole grains and enjoy them for for breakfast, as side dishes, or in a Veggie Bowl.

    • Brown rice
    • Quinoa
    • Steel cut oats
    • Rolled oats

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    Dried Beans & Legumes

    I totally recommend dried beans as they are much more affordable than canned beans and taste better, as well. Buy a few pounds of dried beans and lentils to be used to make hummus, tossed in a salad, soup.

    Experiment with a few different beans and legumes, such as:

    • Garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
    • Green lentils
    • Red lentils
    • Black beans
    • Pinto
    • Kidney
    • Tepary Beans (especially if you’re in Arizona)

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    Nuts & Seeds

    Nuts and seeds are rich in protein and healthy fats and can be eaten as snacks, made into nut milk, used in smoothies, toppings in salads, and delicious raw desserts.

    Buy a variety of raw organic nuts and seeds, such as:

    • Almonds
    • Cashews (great for desserts!)
    • Pecans
    • Walnuts
    • Pumpkin seeds
    • Sunflower seeds
    • Hemp seeds
    • Chia seeds (for smoothies)

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    Extra Virgin Olive Oil

    Buy a high-quality olive oil. Organic, First-pressed, Cold Pressed. Less than .8 percent acid. Use olive oil in salad dressings and cooking to add flavor to your dishes. Personally, I use olive oil almost every day and believe it is a must in our kitchen all the time.

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    Fresh Herbs

    Purchase a few herbs, available at your local farmers markets, or garden, or grocery stores. Use the herbs to add flavor to all kinds of veggie dishes.

    • Parsley
    • Basil, dill, oregano, marjoram

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    Seasonings

    The top seasoning is sea salt or Himalayan salt. Salt brings out or enhances the flavor of whatever we cook. I use coarse Celtic sea salt and hand-grind it in a mortar and pestle for cooking.

    A few basic seasonings you can use now while we are “at home” and continue to cook with in the future.

    • Dried Mediterranean herbs: Combination or separate herbs, such as basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme
    • Seeds: Cumin (for hummus and soups)
    • Dried Mexican spices: Any kind of peppers, such as chili, ancho, chipotle
    • Dried spices: Cinnamon (key); Extras: nutmeg, cardamom

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    Dry Goods

    Other extra foods to stock your pantry.

    • Coconut water (for smoothies)
    • Vinegar: Any kind for salad dressings, such as balsamic, red wine, rice, apple cider
    • Stone-ground mustard (for salad dressings)
    • Coconut oil. Virgin, unrefined (for desserts)
    • Extras: Olives and goji berries (my favorite extras)

    Shopping List Guide. I invite you to use this shopping list as a guide to shop for what you can in your own area and based on your personal level of cooking.

    Cooking Videos. I’ll keep you posted on new, whole foods, plant-based cooking videos on my Experience Nutrition You Tube Channel, so you can actually see how to prepare dishes with the basic foods in the shopping list.

    Share on Facebook. Finally, please reach out to me with any questions on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ 

    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.

    Interested in enjoying a weekend of healthy plant-based cooking in beautiful Sedona, Arizona?

    We have just, with careful consideration in light of the Coronavirus Pandemic, confirmed the Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self-Care Retreat on November 13-16, 2020.

    Click to learn more about the retreat and to enjoy photos of our Fall 2019 Retreat

    Beautiful Plant-Based Lunch Creation: Avocado Tartare
    Mediation. Breathwork. Awe….Omm…at Cathedral Rock. With Patricia Fonseca of Back to Earth Sedona Tours.
    Getting started with our mindful chopping for our fresh Tomato Gazpacho and Avocado Tartare.
    Our Retreat Kitchen Welcome. Thanks for the pumpkins Billy Anthony at The Farm at South Mountain. And, love the sunflowers thanks to Shanti Rade of Whipstone Farm in Paulen, Arizona.
    Daniel Posney, Kiva Ceremony during 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreat

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Lemon Cucumber Tomato Tower Salad

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Lemon Cucumber Tomato Tower Salad

    Eat What Grows!

    A simple way to think about eating locally and eating with the season, is to eat what your local farmers are growing, or what’s growing in your garden.

    What Grows Together Goes Together

    A simple way to think about how to create a dish with your local farmers produce, is to create with the vegetables, fruit, and herbs that are growing together. Intuitively, have fun mixing and matching different colors, textures, shapes, and sizes.

    Right now in Arizona, in late August, it’s still hot, with temperatures above 105 degrees. With the heat, hydrating foods, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, and watermelons are still growing.

    Thank  You Farmers & Farmers Markets!

    As always, thanks to our Arizona farmers markets and farmers for continuing to serve our community with incredible food throughout the Coronavirus Pandemic and our extra hot summer.

    Special thanks to the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market and the following farmers for the produce in the Lemon Cucumber Tomato Tower. Crooked Sky Farms (cucumbers, tomatoes), Blue Sky Organic Farm (parsley).

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    Arizona Summer Veggies

    Lemon Cucumber Tower Salad Recipe

    This quick salad, inspired by the beautiful, unique crisp lemon cucumber, is paired with an heirloom tomato, along with a fresh parsley gremolata.

    Use this recipe as a guide to create your own fresh summer salad with your favorite cucumbers and tomatoes. Add flavor with a simple parsley gremolata as a dressing.

    Have fun plating your own version of Food Art with this dish. Post it on Instagram and Tag #ExperienceNutrition

     Serves 1

     Simple Ingredients

     Cucumber Tower

    • 1 lemon cucumber, sliced in rounds
    • 1 heirloom tomato, sliced in rounds

    Gremolata

    • ¼ cup fresh parsley
    • ¼ cup fresh basil
    • ¼ cup raw almonds, rough chopped
    • ¼ lemon, juiced
    • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
    • Pinch sea salt

    Garnish

    • Few basil leaves
    • Few parsley leaves
    • Few olives
    • Optional: Dehydrated tomato (previously dehydrated)
    • Optional: Dolmas: Stuffed Grape Leaves (Not use in plating)
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    Lemon Cucumber Tomato Tower Mise En Place

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    Simple Steps

    Gremolata

    • Rough chop the basil, parsley, and almonds.
    • Place all ingredients (basil, parsley, almonds, lemon juice, olive oil) into a small bowl.
    • Toss gently.
    • Add more lemon, olive oil, or sea salt to suit your taste.
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    Gremolata Ingredients: Basil, Almonds, Parsley

     Plating

    Enjoy mindfully plating your salad to create your own Food Art.

    • Place a cucumber round on the bottom of plate.
    • Add a tablespoon of the gremolata and a few capers.
    • Place a tomato slice onto the gremolata.
    • Add a tablespoon of the gremolata and a few capers.
    • Continue with a few more layers of cucumbers and tomatoes.
    • Garnish with fresh basil, parsley, olives, capers, and dehydrated tomato.
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    Plating Mise en Place: Lemon Cucumber Tomato Tower

    Watch the plating video and then have fun plating your own Cucumber Tomato Tower.

    Enjoy your Cucumber Tomato Tower

    My tower tipped over….but…still delicious, so wanted to share it with you.

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    Lemon Cucumber Heirloom Tomato

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

    We have now, with careful consideration of the Coronavirus Pandemic, postponed our Sedona Plant-Based Culinary and Self-Care Retreat to November 13-16, 2020.

    Click hear to learn more about the retreat and see the wonderful time during our September 2019 Retreat.

    If you’re interested in a once-in-a-lifetime memorable weekend, please reach out to me. Would love to chat and get to know you and answer any questions.  Also, please let me know if you’d like to create a custom retreat for a group of friends or your business.

    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.

    A few memories from our September 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Culinary & Self-Care Retreat.

    Beautiful Plant-Based Lunch Creation: Avocado Tartare
    Yoga at one of my very favorite spots in the world: Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
    Getting started with our mindful chopping for our fresh Tomato Gazpacho and Avocado Tartare.
    Daniel Posney, Kiva Ceremony during 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self Care Retreat
    June Rettinger de Arballo, Ceremony at 2019 Sedona Retreat
  • Experience Nutrition: Arizona Summer Lemon Cucumber Salad

    Experience Nutrition: Arizona Summer Lemon Cucumber Salad

    During the summer our local Arizona farmers and many across the USA are growing lots of hydrating veggies, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, and all kinds of melons.

    Click to see the Top 10 Hydrating Foods

    As always, thanks so much to our local Arizona farmers for growing such incredible produce for us during our extremely hot Arizona summer and for providing it to us safely at our local farmers markets in such a safe, social distancing way. Our community really appreciates your hard work, passion, and dedication.

    The intuitively created salad, was inspired by the Lemon Cucumber, which looks a little like a tennis ball and are fresh and crispy.

    Summer Lemon Cucumber Salad Recipe

    Create a fresh, simple salad with your favorite cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, green onion, fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Add olive and capers, and enjoy your salad.

    Thanks specifically to our Phoenix farmers for the fresh produce for this salad.

    • Crooked Sky Farms
      • Lemon cucumbers. Love and look forward to their beauty and crispness every summer.
      • Bell peppers. Enjoying the green and yellow sweet bell peppers.
    • Pinnacle Farm Phoenix
      • Sungold Tomatoes. Thank you for your honor system farm stand in the South Mountain area.
    • Arizona Micro-Greens
      • Micro Salad Mix. Sunflower Shoots, Pea Shoots, Radish, Cilantro.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 Lemon cucumber, sliced
    • 1 bell pepper, sliced
    • 1 medium tomato or 1/2 cup mini tomatoes
    • 1 green onion, sliced
    • 1/2 lemon, juiced
    • 2 TBSP organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 TBSP olives
    • 1 tsp capers
    • Few micro-greens

    Simple Steps

    • Rough chop all veggies.
    • Place all veggies in a small bowl.
    • Toss all veggies with olive oil and lemon juice.
    • Plate and garnish with micro-greens.

    Enjoy your salad…

    Top 10 Hydrating Foods

    You don’t have to get all of your liquids from beverages. About 20% of the water we consume comes from food. Eating food high in water content adds fiber, electrolytes, and vitamins to our diets.

    The following veggies and fruit, contain 89% or more water. Enjoy!

    • Cucumbers
    • Watermelon
    • Pineapple
    • Celery
    • Blueberries
    • Lettuce
    • Tomatoes
    • Pears
    • Grapefruit
    • Cantaloupe

    Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self-Care Retreat: November 13-16, 2020

    If you are interested in a fun, memorable, one-of-a-kind weekends, experiencing plant-based cooking, along with self-care, hiking, yoga, and special Sedona experiences.

    Click to learn more about the Sedona Retreats.

    I’m happy to share more about the retreat and answer your questions. Call Melanie Albert at 602.615.2486, send a note to Mel@MelanieAlbert.com or fill out the Form and I’m happy to answer any questions.

    • Beautiful Plant-Based Lunch Creation: Avocado Tartare
    • WOW! Yoga at Cathedral Rock. Dreams come true!
    • Getting started with our mindful chopping for our fresh Tomato Gazpacho and Avocado Tartare.

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

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

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

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

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

    Raw. Cooked. Dehydrated.

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

    Enjoy the video with all these tomato recipes…

    Tomato Salsa. Corn on the Cob. Green Peppers.

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

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

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

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2-3 tomatoes
    • 2 peppers
    • 5-6 green onions
    • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 lime, juiced
    • 3-4 sprigs fresh dill
    • Pinch sea salt
    • Optional: 1 corn on the cob

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    Farm-to-Table Tomato Salsa: Ingredients

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    Tomato. Corn Salsa: Mise en Place.

    Simple Steps

    • Chop all veggies.
    • Place all ingredients into a medium-size bowl.
    • Toss.
    • Taste.
    • Add more salt or lime juice to suit your taste preferences.
    • Plate and enjoy.

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    Tomato Corn Dill Salsa

    Tomato Sauté Recipe

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

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2-3 tomatoes, chopped
    • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 3-4 green onions, sliced
    • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 tbsp Kalamata olives
    • 1 tbsp capers
    • 5-6 sprigs parsley
    • Pinch sea salt

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    Tomato Saute: Ingredients

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    Tomato Saute: Mise en Place

    Simple Steps

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

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    Tomato Saute. Pasta. Plating Mise en Place.

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    Tomato Saute. Chickpea Pasta.

    Dehydrate Tomatoes

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

    Simple Ingredients and Steps

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

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    Dehydrate Tomatoes: Place sliced tomatoes on dehydrator sheet.

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    Tomato Food Art

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

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

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

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market Summer Salads

    Experience Nutrition: Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market Summer Salads

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

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

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    Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market: Summer Veggies

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

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

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

    Summertime Tomato Gazpacho Recipe

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

     Simple Ingredients

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

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    Tomato Gazpacho: Farmers fresh ingredients

    Simple Steps

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

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    Tomato Gazpacho: Mise En Place

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    Arizona Summer Tomato Gazpacho

    Summer Chopped Salad Recipe

    Simple Ingredients

    Chopped Salad

    • 1 carrot, cubed
    • 2 cups, green beans, sliced
    • 1 green onion, sliced
    • 1 green pepper, sliced
    • 1 corn on cob

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    Summer Chopped Salad: Mise En Place

    Dill Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

    • ½ fresh lemon juice, approximate ¼ cup
    • ½ cup olive oil, twice as much as the lemon juice
    • 2-3 stems fresh herbs, such as dill
    • Pinch sea salt
    • 1 tsp honey
    • 1 tsp stone ground mustard

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    Dill Honey Mustard Salad Dressing: Mise En Place

     Salad Dressing Simple Steps

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

     

    Summer Chopped Salad

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

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    Arizona Summer Chopped Salad

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

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    Summer Salad: Mise En Place

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    Tomato Gazpacho. Armenian Cucumber

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    Arizona Summer Chopped Salad

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    Chopped Salad: Another View

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    Chopped Salad. Classic Hummus.

    NEW: Corporate Wellness Healthy Eating Programs

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Experience Nutrition: The Farm at South Mountain CSA Recipe: Summer Peach Apricot Salsa

    Experience Nutrition: The Farm at South Mountain CSA Recipe: Summer Peach Apricot Salsa

    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.

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    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

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    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.

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    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

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    Ingredients: Peach Apricot Salsa

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    Mise 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.

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    Peach Apricot Salsa: Mix Ingredients

     SIMPLE PLATING

    • Enjoy with hummus, or as a side salad.

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    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.

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Beet Burger

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Beet Burger

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

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

    Enjoy the Beet Burger Video

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

    Recipe: Arizona Farm-to-Table Beet Burger

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

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    Beet Burger Veggies. Thanks Blue Sky Organic Farms.

    8 Servings

    Simple Ingredients

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

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    Beet Burger: Ingredients.

    Simple Steps

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

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    Beet Burger: Plating Mise En Place

    • Mindful Plating
      • Garnish with avocado slices, tomatoes, walnuts, hempseed cream, capers.
      • Enjoy!

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    YUM. The Farm-to-Table Beet Burger.

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

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

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

    Sedona Plant-Based Cooking & Self-Care Retreat Update

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

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

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

  • Experience Nutrition: The Farm at South Mountain CSA Recipe: Arizona Spring Roasted Roots & Fruit

    Experience Nutrition: The Farm at South Mountain CSA Recipe: Arizona Spring Roasted Roots & Fruit

    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:

    • Beets
    • Carrots
    • Glacier Lettuce
    • Salad Greens
    • Zucchini
    • Swiss Chard
    • Grapefruit
    • Lemon Basil, Mint
    • Eggs

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    RECIPE: Roasted Roots & Fruit. Honey Grapefruit Dressing.

    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

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    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…

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    Plating…

    The beautiful, tasty Arizona Spring Roots & Fruit Dish

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    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.

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    The beauty of nature…at The Farm.

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  • Experience Nutrition: Simple Avocado Salsa, as Featured in Natural Awakenings Magazine, Arizona

    Experience Nutrition: Simple Avocado Salsa, as Featured in Natural Awakenings Magazine, Arizona

    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

    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
    • Melanie’s Edible Garden: Fresh Basil, Mini-Tomatoes

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 soft, ripe avocado
    • 4-5 mini carrots, chopped
    • 1 green onion, chopped
    • 3-4 clove raw garlic, minced
    • 4-5 cauliflower florets, chopped
    • ½ lemon, juiced and zested
    • 4-5 basil leaves, chiffonade
    • Pinch sea salt
    • Garnish: Basil leaves and flowers, mini-tomatoes
    • Pinch sea salt

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    Simple Avocado Salsa: Beautiful Arizona farmers ingredients.

    Simple Steps

    • Chop all ingredients.
    • Place avocado in a bowl and mix with a fork.
    • Add all other ingredients to the bowl and gently mix all ingredients.

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    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.

  • Experience Nutrition: Raw Carrot Cake. Vegan. Gluten-Free. Beautiful.

    Experience Nutrition: Raw Carrot Cake. Vegan. Gluten-Free. Beautiful.

    It is my pleasure to share with you another one of my favorite “healthy” desserts: Raw Carrot Cake. Berries. Edible Flowers.

    The Raw Carrot Cake recipe is adapted from my cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods.” 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, plant-based version of carrot cake. – Melanie Albert

    Thanks

    • Natural Awakenings Magazine, Phoenix and Northern Arizona. Thanks so much for the opportunities to create recipe articles for your publication that supports our holistic community. I am especially honored to contribute to the May 2020 issue during the Coronavirus Pandemic to share the beauty of food to our community.
    • Blue Sky Organic Farms for the beautiful, bright orange carrots. I appreciate your hard work continuing to grow beautiful produce for us week-after-week and month-after-month, especially during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
    • Community Exchange Table at the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market, where small local Arizona farmers and growers sell their extra bounty to our community. Special thanks for the seasonal Pakistani Mulberries, which I love every year.
    • Northwest Wild Foods for the tasty, tart Gooseberries. So great to initially meet you when we filmed the segment with your Aronia (Choke) Berries for The List TV Show. So glad we’ve connected.

    If you love plant-based, gluten-free desserts, enjoy our Banana Bread Recipe.

    Enjoy the Raw Carrot Cake Cooking Video

    • The beautiful ingredients.
    • Steps to prep the ingredients.
    • Mindful Plating: Food Art.

    Raw Carrot Cake Recipe

    I hope you enjoy creating your own beautiful, tasty raw carrot cake, with the aromatherapy of hand-grinding the cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and the mindfulness of plating food art with berries and edible flowers.

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    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1 cup dates, pitted and soaked for 1 hour in water, then rough chopped
    • 2 cups carrots, shredded
    • 1 ½ cups apple, minced
    • 1 ½ cups raw cashews, ground into a fine meal
    • ½ tsp cinnamon, freshly ground
    • ½ tsp nutmeg, freshly ground
    • ½ tsp cardamom, freshly ground
    • Pinch sea salt
    • Garnish: Goldenberries, Pakistani Mulberries, Edible Flowers.

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    Ingredients: Raw Carrot Cake. Thank you Blue Sky Organic Farms.

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    Pakistani Mulberries. Goldenberries. Thank you Northwest Wild Foods. Community Exchange Table Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market.

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    Edible Flowers. Thank you The Farm at South Mountain. Soil & Seed Garden.

    SIMPLE STEPS

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    Raw Carrot Cake: Mise en Place.

    • Gather mise en place.
    • Soak dates, if they are not soft.
    • Place all ingredients into mixing bowl and with hands, combine gently until the mixture forms a ball.
    • Press dough into a springform pan.
    • Refrigerate for an hour.

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    Raw Carrot Cake: Plating Mise en Place

    PLATING

    • Mindfully garnish with berries and edible flowers.
    • Enjoy!

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

    Please reach out to us if you’re interested in planning future Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Cooking Experiences, Team Building, Retreats, or Catering. 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.

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    The Raw Carrot Cake.

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Zucchini Salad. The Farm at South Mountain CSA

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Zucchini Salad. The Farm at South Mountain CSA

    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:

    • Roots: Beets, Carrots
    • Greens: Glacier Lettuce, Salad Greens, Swiss Chard
    • Veggies: Zucchini
    • Citrus: Grapefruit
    • Herbs: Lemon Basil, Mint, Sage
    • Eggs

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    The Farm at South Mountain. Soil & Seed Garden CSA, May 1, 2020.

    RECIPE: Raw Cashew Salad. Cashew Cream.

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    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

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    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.

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    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

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    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.”

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    Zucchini Salad. Sunflowers.

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    Zucchini Salad. In the Garden.

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    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.”

  • Experience Nutrition: Gardening: 10 Steps to Plant Your Summer Garden

    Experience Nutrition: Gardening: 10 Steps to Plant Your Summer Garden

    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.

    Happy to share with you the second phase of planting my little Arizona edible garden. Click to see Gardening Part 1: Earth Day: Slow Down with Home Gardening. Worms!

    10 Step Summer Gardening Experience

    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:

    1. Choose your Plants.
    2. Gardening “Mise en Place.” Get organized with the plants, mulch, worm castings, and worm tea for your garden.
    3. Take out the old (plants) to leave room for the new.
    4. Pull out all old roots and thoroughly mix the soil.
    5. Add mulch and mix it into the old soil.
    6. Plant the transplants.
    7. Sprinkle a layer of nutrient-dense Worm Castings onto the top of the soil.
    8. Drizzle Worm Tea onto the top of the soil, around all of the plants.
    9. Water the garden.
    10. 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

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    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.

    2AP-IMG_2914-garden-20Apr

    Step 3. Take out the old (plants) to leave room for the new.

    2AP-IMG_2920-old

    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!

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    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.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Hummus 3 Ways. As seen in Natural Awakenings Magazine, Arizona

    Experience Nutrition: Hummus 3 Ways. As seen in Natural Awakenings Magazine, Arizona

    So honored to create plant-based recipe articles during the last several years for the Natural Awakenings Magazine, Phoenix and Northern Arizona. This month, May 2020, I am especially humbled to contribute to the magazine while we are all together during the Coronavirus stay-at-home. And, while so many people are experimenting more in the kitchen with families and kids.

    For this article, I decided to bring a touch of positivity to our world with “The Joy of Beautiful Food.” Experiment with the tips to add beauty to meals and have fun creating dishes with beautiful food and edible flowers. – Melanie Albert

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    Natural Awakenings, May 2020.

    Top 4 Ways to Add Beauty to Your Meals:

    1. Buy Beautiful Veggies from Our Local Farmers.
    2. Add Color and Texture to your Dishes.
    3. Add Natural Aromatherapy to Your Culinary Creations.
    4. Plate Mindfully.

    I hope you are inspired to add a little beauty and joy to life by creating some beautiful, mindful plant-based dishes. Share your creations with us on  www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenutritionaz and tag us #experiencenutrition.

    Happy to share a few of my very favorite recipes in the Natural Awakenings article. Importantly, you can easily modify the recipes with local farmers’ seasonal produce, along with the fruit and veggies in your refrigerator. Enjoy!

    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.

    • Hummus. Three Ways. Classic. Turmeric. Beet.
    • Avocado Salsa. Intuitively create with the veggies, aromatics, and herbs in your kitchen.
    • Raw Carrot Cake. Simple, beautiful, tasty, aromatic dessert.

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    Hummus Three Ways: Beet. Turmeric. Classic.

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    Simple Avocado Salsa.

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    Raw Carrot Cake. Edible Flowers.

    Hummus Video. In the cooking video, come into my kitchen and see the steps to create the Three Hummus Recipes.

    RECIPE: Hummus. Three Ways. Classic, Turmeric, Beet.

    Use these recipes as a guide to create your own hummus. Once you’ve learned how to prepare the basic classic hummus, have fun experimenting and intuitively creating your own versions of it.

    Serves 4

    Classic Hummus. Turmeric. Beet.

    I’m excited to share with you the same recipe we made for the Super Bowl XLIV VIP Tailgate Party for the Super Bowl in Miami. Now you can make it, too. In addition to the Classic Hummus, traditionally made with tahini (ground sesame seeds), we can create different versions of hummus with turmeric or beet powder. Enjoy!

     Simple Ingredients

    • 2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
    • ⅓ cup chickpea water
    • 3 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
    • 3 cloves garlic, minced
    • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
    • ⅛ tsp cumin seeds, hand -round
    • ⅛ tsp coriander seeds, hand-ground (seeds from cilantro)
    • Pinch sea salt
    • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • Turmeric Hummus: 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, pinch black pepper
    • Beet Hummus: 2 tsp beet powder

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    Simple Steps

    • Place all ingredients, except olive oil, into a food processor.
    • Blend a few minutes, until smooth.
    • Stream in the olive oil and blend until creamy.
    • After the hummus has been blended, taste and add more of any of the ingredients to suit your taste.
    • Turmeric or Beet Hummus: After creating the Classic Hummus, add either the turmeric or beet powder to the food processor. Process until well combined.

    Simple Plating

    • Mindfully plate the three versions of hummus with fresh edible flowers, fresh herbs, or chopped veggies.

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

    Will also be sharing the Avocado Salsa and Raw Carrot Cake in videos and blog posts. Stay tuned.

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

  • Experience Nutrition:  Zucchini Lasagna Two Ways: Raw & Baked. The Farm at South Mountain CSA Recipe

    Experience Nutrition:  Zucchini Lasagna Two Ways: Raw & Baked. The Farm at South Mountain CSA Recipe

    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

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    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.

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    Lasagna & Hempseed Cream Ingredients

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    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.

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    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

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    Mise en Place: Hempseed Cream

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Place all ingredients into food processor.
    • Process until smooth.
    • Add water, as needed, for creamier sauce.

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    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.

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    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!

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    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.

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    Self Care: Sunflower!

  • Happy Earth Day 2020! Three Views of Gardening. Slow Down. Worms. Plant. (Part 1 of 2)

    Happy Earth Day 2020! Three Views of Gardening. Slow Down. Worms. Plant. (Part 1 of 2)

    Happy Earth Day 2020.

    Synchronicity. Celebrating our 50th Earth Day with Gardening. Of course!

    Now during our Coronavirus “stay-at-home” across the USA, gardening has become more meaningful. So many people around the world are getting back to the basics with more home cooking, more home gardening, more self-care, and more time to reflect.

    As many of you are aware, my passion is creating with beautiful locally grown Arizona farmers produce, herbs, and edible flowers, all grown with organic practices. I’m honored to share my gardening experiences, as a few friends have been requesting my thoughts.

    It has now been 13 months since I first set up and planted my little elevated garden in my backyard in Phoenix, Arizona, and I’m looking forward to another season. Thanks to my farmer friend, Billy Anthony of The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain for the encouragement and the plant-starts for the last few growing seasons. – Melanie Albert

    This week, I’m honored to share with you my 3 Different Views of Gardening.

    • Slow Down with Home Gardening.
    • Worms. Oh, My! Oh, Yes!
    • 10 Steps to Plant Your Summer Garden. (“Next” Blog)

    Slow Down with Home Gardening

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    Summer 2020 Elevated Edible Garden, Experience Nutrition, Phoenix, Arizona

    This week, while prepping and planting my little elevated edible garden, I also took extra time to reflect. My gardening experience was a personal day of incredible self-care, quietly outside in beautiful Phoenix with connection to our Earth.

    As many of us are aware, planting and gardening have been a metaphor for life and growth.

    We get rid of the old (plants).

    We plant seeds (or transplants).

    Nurture and care for them.

    Practice patience.

    Mindfully enjoy the growing process, days by days, weeks by weeks, and months by months.

    And, we enjoy the fruits of our labor when we experience the amazing freshness and life of our own home-grown food in our meals. I am already happily enjoying my recently planted fresh herbs and edible flowers!

    Importantly, I look forward to seeing the new growth in my life, alongside the growth of the garden.

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    Pause. Enjoy Your Mindful Gardening.

    Take time this season to really enjoy your own home-gardening. Enjoy the beautiful, slow, mindful process.

    Pause and take time to reflect on how your gardening experience reflects your life.

    Worms! Oh My! Oh Yes!

    My early memories of worms were getting the “best” worms for fishing (we lived in Baltimore with a river to the Chesapeake Bay in our backyard) from my grandmother’s rose garden.  Humm…worms for fishing and gardening?

    Thank you farmer, Billy Anthony

    This season while getting set to plant my Arizona Summer garden, I reached out to my knowledgeable, passionate farmer friend, Billy Anthony at The Farm at South Mountain. Since my little edible garden already had “good organic soil” and mulch from the Arizona Worm Farm from the prior growing season, Billy recommended fertilizing it this season.

    Arizona Worm Farm

    For fertilizing, I visited the incredible Arizona Worm Farm, only 7 miles from my home, currently operating as a Farmers Market on Saturday’s, where we can purchase produce, as well as compost and worm products for our gardens. “The Arizona Worm Farm is a unique little urban farm centered around sustainability, soil improvement, and turning garbage into food.”

    Arizona Worm Farm

    Take a look at the Arizona Worm Farm Worm Casting and Garden…

    For the extra fertilizer, my first thought was worms. Oh My, Oh My.

    And, second, Oh My, buying the Worm Tea and Worm Castings, I had a feeling I knew what they were. And, oh yes. Worm castings and worm tea were what I suspected. (I totally trusted the process.)

    Worm Castings

    Worm castings are basically worm poop. There’s the “Oh My.” According to the Arizona Worm Farm, worm castings or vermi-compost are a nutrient-dense amendment, high in microbial activity. The richest natural fertilizer. Castings rapidly stimulate plant growth because they contain nutrients in plant-available form and easily absorbed.  I bought 3 gallons for my 6 x 2 feet elevated garden and to top off my 2 large galvanized steel garden pots.

    Worm Tea

    Worm Tea is compost tea made from Worm Castings. This tea must be used within 4 hours of purchase to be effective in our gardens. So definitely, be prepared to garden the day you purchase your Worm Tea. As far as I know, the Arizona Worm Farm only sells the Worm Tea on Saturday mornings during the farmers’ market.  For perspective, I purchased 1 gallon of Worm Tea.

    Be sure to come back for our “10 Steps to Plant Your Summer Garden,” with the Worm Castings and Worm Tea and local Arizona plant-starts from Vilardi Gardens and The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain.

    Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenturitionaz and tag us #experiencenutritionaz 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.

  • Experience Nutrition: Your Recipe Guide for a Quick & Simple Avocado Salsa With What’s in Your Refrigerator

    Experience Nutrition: Your Recipe Guide for a Quick & Simple Avocado Salsa With What’s in Your Refrigerator

    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

    Avocado Tartare Key Ingredients

    The 5 base ingredients for avocado tartare are:

    1. A ripe avocado
    2. Citrus: lemon, lime, grapefruit, Meyer lemon
    3. Sea salt
    4. Aromatic: onion, garlic, shallot
    5. Fresh herb: parsley, basil, cilantro, marjoram, lemon balm

    Avocado Tartare: The Add-in Veggies

    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

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    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

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    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.

    www.ExperienceNutrition.com

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  • Experience Nutrition: Extra Bananas in Your Kitchen? Vegan Gluten-Free Banana Bread WOW!!!

    Experience Nutrition: Extra Bananas in Your Kitchen? Vegan Gluten-Free Banana Bread WOW!!!

    Since so many people are buying many bananas during our Coronavirus stay-at-home, I decided and am excited to share an incredible banana recipe with you.

    Enjoy this incredible vegan, gluten-free banana bread with walnuts, dehydrated citrus, and edible flowers. This banana bread is so delicious all I can say is Wow! I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy mindfully preparing this bread and enjoying it as a breakfast break or snack. – Melanie Albert

    Enjoy the Vegan Gluten-Free Banana Bread Video…for the step-by-step cooking process.

    Vegan Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe

    12 Servings

    Simple Ingredients

    • Wet Ingredients
      • 3 ripe bananas
      • 1/3 cup coconut oil, liquid
      • 1 cup coconut sugar
      • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
      • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • Dry Ingredients
      • 1 ¾ cups gluten-free flour (blend of sweet rice flour, brown rice flour, potato starch, sorghum flour, tapioca flour, xanthan gum)
      • 1 tsp baking soda
      • ½ tsp baking powder
      • ½ tsp sea salt
      • 1 tsp freshly ground cinnamon
      • 1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
      • ¾ cup walnut pieces

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    Banana Bread Ingredients

    • Garnish
      • Edible flowers and dehydrated grapefruit and blood orange slices.

    Simple Steps

    • Mise en Place
      • Gather your ingredients and organize your mise en place – get everything in place before your start cooking.
    • Bake the Cake
      • Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.
    • Process Wet Ingredients
      • Place sliced bananas (about 3 cups) in food processor.
      • Process until smooth.
      • Taste. Add extra banana if desire sweeter taste.
      • Liquefy the coconut oil by placing oil in small bowl in a larger bowl of hot water.
      • Stream in coconut oil. Process again.
      • Add coconut sugar, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract to the food processor.
      • Process until smooth.
    • Mix Dry & Wet Ingredients
      • In large bowl, place flour, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
      • Stir until mixed.
      • Pour the banana mixture into the bowl.
      • Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture, until well mixed.
      • Fold in walnut pieces.
    • Bake the Banana Bread
      • Pour the batter into a parchment-lined pan, 9” x 7”.
      • Place several walnuts on top of cake.
      • Bake for 40-45 minutes.
      • Cake is ready when toothpick comes out dry.
    • Plate and Enjoy
      • Garnish with dehydrated grapefruit and blood orange slices, and edible flowers.
      • Enjoy for breakfast or a snack.

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    Vegan Gluten-Free Banana Bread. Dehydrated Citrus. Edible Flowers.

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    Enjoying the incredible Banana Bread with our beautiful Arizona sunset.

    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.

    Visit us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ, Instagram: @experiencenutritionaz and #experiencenutrition

  • Experience Nutrition: Cook at Home Roasted Veggie Bowl with “Social Distancing.”  5 Tips to Roast Veggies Perfectly Every Time

    Experience Nutrition: Cook at Home Roasted Veggie Bowl with “Social Distancing.”  5 Tips to Roast Veggies Perfectly Every Time

    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

    Visit our new Experience Nutrition YouTube Channel for the video of the Roasted Veggie Bowl Recipe.

    Thank You Farmers and Farmers Markets

    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!

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    Veggies “social distancing” on the parchment-lined sheet pans.

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

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    Roasted veggies. Ready to be mindfully plated.

    • Enjoy as a veggie bowl.

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    TOP 5 TIPS TO ROAST VEGGIES PERFECTLY EVERY TIME

    1. Coat the chopped veggies thoroughly with oil.
    2. When placing on unbleached parchment paper, be sure the veggies do not touch each other.
    3. When placing veggies on parchment paper, place flat side down, so the side of the vegetable can brown.
    4. Flip veggies about half-way through the cooking process.
    5. 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.

    If you are enjoying our Experience Nutrition Blog, with simple plant-based recipes and lifestyle tips, please subscribe to the Blog, our www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ , and new YouTube Channel.

    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.

  • Experience Nutrition Tip: Cooking More at Home? Simple Roasted Veggies with What’s In Your Refrigerator

    Experience Nutrition Tip: Cooking More at Home? Simple Roasted Veggies with What’s In Your Refrigerator

    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

    Click to watch the Video of the Simple Roasted Veggie Bowl.

    Thank You Farmers

    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

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    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.

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    In to the Pan: Veggies, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt

    • Roast for 12 minutes.
    • Toss veggies.
    • Roast for another 12-15 minutes.

    A-IMG_9478-roasted-photo

    • 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.

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    Enjoy! Quick Roasted Veggie Bowl

    Click to watch the Video of the Simple Roasted Veggie Bowl.

    Please ask any questions, anytime, and share your culinary creations with us.

    Visit us on Facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenutritionAZ  #experiencenutrition

    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.

  • EXPERIENCE NUTRITION: Food & Lifestyle Tip: Stay-at-Home Simple Healthy Cooking Shopping List

    EXPERIENCE NUTRITION: Food & Lifestyle Tip: Stay-at-Home Simple Healthy Cooking Shopping List

    To eat well, cook simple meals, and do our best to stay healthy while we are all at home during the Coronavirus “stay-at-home,” it is important to be stocked with a few basic kitchen staples, along with fresh veggies and fruit.

    When we first started hearing about the coronavirus in the US, I actually started thinking about what foods would be essential to have at home. I realized that they are very similar to my list of “how to stock whole food pantry” in my book “A New View of Healthy Eating” for any time of the year. – Melanie Albert

    For a visual of my personal pantry, visit the Experience Nutrition You Tube Channel, and subscribe for future cooking videos.

    Learn to Cook. This whole food shopping list is based on staples to be able to cook, simple, delicious meals. Throughout the next few weeks, I’ll share how to use all of these staples. Please feel free to send me a note on my new Facebook Page (Facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ), if you have any specific questions or foods you’d like to learn how to cook, or if you need to make any substitutions, based on what’s available in your area.

    Go Slow. I do recognize that we are all at different levels of cooking knowledge and skill levels. If you are new with cooking, buy what you can and feel comfortable from the shopping list. Do not overwhelm yourself. Go slow over the next few weeks to gradually learn some new cooking skills into your life that may last the rest of your life.

    Shopping List Guide. I personally use this shopping list as a guide and invite you to shop for what you can in your own area and based on your personal level of cooking. I will be sharing cooking techniques and tips every day.

    Key Shopping Categories

    Use the Panty Shopping List as a guide for the ingredients to stock your pantry in the following food categories.

    • Whole Grains
    • Beans & Legumes
    • Whole Grains
    • Nuts & Seeds
    • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    • Seasonings / Sea Salt
    • Dry Goods
    • Fresh Produce (hopefully your local farmers markets are open)

    Whole Grains

    Choose a few different whole grains for breakfast and side dishes. Buy a few pounds of each. If whole grains are not available in your local stores right now, or if you’d prefer delivery to your home, I just checked, and they are available online on Amazon (not promoting, just informing). I’ll be sharing a very simple way to cook whole grains perfectly every time, right on the stovetop. I’ll also share how you can enjoy grains for breakfast, lunch, and side dishes, including Veggie Bowls with Whole Grains.

    • Brown rice
    • Quinoa
    • Steel cut oats
    • Rolled oats

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    Dried Beans & Legumes

    I totally recommend dried beans as they are much more affordable than canned beans and taste better, as well. Buy a few pounds of dried beans and lentils to be used to make hummus, tossed in a salad, soup.

    With our Food & Lifestyle Tips and Videos, I’ll be sure to share with you how to easily cook dried beans. I’ll also share recipes for tasty hummus originally made for the VIP Tailgate Party at the Super Bowl in Miami in 2009, lentil soup, raw chili, and will create other recipe ideas for you.

    Experiment with a few different beans and legumes, such as:

    • Garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
    • Green lentils
    • Red lentils
    • Black beans
    • Pinto
    • Kidney
    • Tepary Beans (especially if you’re in Arizona)

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    Nuts & Seeds

    Nuts and seeds are rich in protein and healthy fats and can be eaten as snacks, made into nut milk, used in smoothies, toppings in salads, and delicious raw desserts.

    Buy a variety of raw organic nuts and seeds, such as:

    • Almonds
    • Cashews (great for desserts!)
    • Pecans
    • Walnuts
    • Pumpkin seeds
    • Sunflower seeds
    • Hemp seeds
    • Chia seeds (for smoothies)

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    Extra Virgin Olive Oil

    During this time (and always), you’ll need a high-quality olive oil. Recommend: Organic, First-pressed, Cold Pressed. Less than .8 percent acid.

    Will be sharing tips on how to make a simple 3-ingredient home-made salad dressing, and different ways to cook veggies using olive oil as flavor. Personally, I use olive oil almost every day and believe it is a must in our kitchen all the time.

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    Seasonings

    The top seasoning is sea salt or Himalayan salt. Salt brings out or enhances the flavor of whatever we cook. I use coarse Celtic sea salt and hand-grind it in a mortar and pestle for cooking.

    A few basic seasonings you can use now while we are “at home” and continue to cook with in the future.

    • Dried Mediterranean herbs: Combination or separate herbs, such as basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme
    • Seeds: Cumin (for hummus and soups)
    • Dried Mexican spices: Any kind of peppers, such as chili, ancho, chipotle
    • Dried spices: Cinnamon (key); Extras: nutmeg, cardamom

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    Dry Goods

    Other extra foods to stock your pantry.

    • Coconut water (for smoothies)
    • Vinegar: Any kind for salad dressings, such as balsamic, red wine, rice, apple cider
    • Stone-ground mustard (for salad dressings)
    • Coconut oil. Virgin, unrefined (for desserts)
    • Extras: Olives and goji berries (my favorite extras)

    Fresh Produce

    Roots

    In the Daily Food & Lifestyle Tips, I will be sharing how to cook root veggies a few simple ways: Roast, Steam, Sauté, and even Raw.

    • Carrots
    • Beets
    • Sweet potatoes
    • Radishes

    Greens & Veggies

    We can enjoy nutrient-rich greens in side dishes, soups, and veggie bowls.

    • Dark leafy greens: Kale, collards, arugula, spinach
    • Broccoli
    • Cauliflower
    • Celery
    • Lettuce
    • Tomatoes
    • Bell peppers
    • Your favorites

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    Fruit

    • Bananas (freeze some for smoothies)
    • Apples
    • Lemons, limes (important for salad dressings)
    • Avocados
    • Dates
    • Your favorite fruits, for snacking
    • Frozen fruit: Mixed or separate berries, such as blackberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries

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    Fresh Herbs

    Purchase a few herbs, available at your local farmers markets or grocery stores. We’ll use the herbs to add flavor to all kinds of veggie dishes. Or, if available, plant a few of your favorite herbs. Side note, here in Arizona, one of our plant-start entrepreneurs is delivering plants, including herbs, to our homes.

    • Parsley
    • Basil, dill, oregano, marjoram

    Shopping List Guide. I invite you to use this shopping list as a guide to shop for what you can in your own area and based on your personal level of cooking. I will be sharing cooking techniques and tips every day.

    Cooking Videos. I’ll keep you posted on new, whole foods, plant-based cooking videos on my Experience Nutrition You Tube Channel, so you can actually see how to prepare dishes with the basic foods in the shopping list.

    Share on Facebook. Finally, as I mentioned earlier, please reach out to me with any questions on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ

    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.