Experience Nutrition

Tag: Plantbased Recipes

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
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
SIMPLE STEPS
- Into bowl, place grapefruit juice, mustard, vinegar.
- Whisk until blended.
- Add olive oil.
  Whisk until blended.
- Add more acid (grapefruit juice) or fat (olive oil) to balance.
- Add sea salt. Whisk.
- Add honey. Whisk.
- Add mint. Whisk.
SIMPLE PLATING
- Mindfully plate.
- Place grapefruit slices on plate.
- Layer veggies and fruit on top of the grapefruit slices.
- Dressing Options: Drizzle dressing on top of the veggies. Or, when eating, use dressing as dipping sauce.
Plating Mise en Place…

Plating…

The beautiful, tasty Arizona Spring Roots & Fruit Dish

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

We are now beginning to think about Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Experiences for Fall 2020…hands-on cooking, team building, catering. Please reach out to me to brainstorm ideas for your organization. Contact Melanie Albert at 602.615.2486 or Mel@MelanieAlbert.com

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

So beautiful…one more view of the Arizona Roasted Roots & Fruit and our incredible sunset.

The beauty of nature…at The Farm.
May 10, 2020
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
The Farm at South Mountain. Soil & Seed Garden. CSA 4.25.20

Raw Zucchini Lasagna

This week’s recipe was inspired by our warm Arizona weekend and the Soil & Seed Garden zucchini. The Raw Lasagna recipe features the end-of-season purple daikon radish and carrots. Enjoy with a Grapefruit Hempseed Herbal Cream.

Lasagna & Hempseed Cream Ingredients

Ingredients: Zucchini Lasagna. Hempseed Grapefruit Herb Cream.

Lasagna Veggies

Prep the zucchini, carrot, and daikon radish, and enjoy Raw Lasagna with Grapefruit Hempseed Cream.

Serves 2

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- ¼ zucchini
- 1 carrot
- 1 daikon radish
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Pinch sea salt
SIMPLE STEPS
- Thinly slice veggies with a mandoline or veggie peeler.
- Place veggies, not touching, on parchment paper.
- Drizzle veggies with olive oil and sea salt.
- Let the veggies sit for 10-15 minutes.
- Save the veggies to create the veggie lasagna.
Hempseed Grapefruit Herb Cream

This raw hempseed cream was inspired by The Farm’s grapefruit and fresh dill, lemon basil, and green onions. This Hempseed Cream can be made very quickly since we do not need to pre-soak hempseeds, and you can add flavor with whatever herbs you have in your kitchen or garden right now.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup hempseeds
- ¼ cup grapefruit juice
- 1 TBSP grapefruit zest
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3-4 stems of dill, lemon basil
- 2-3 onion green onions
- Pinch sea salt
Mise en Place: Hempseed Cream

SIMPLE STEPS
- Place all ingredients into food processor.
- Process until smooth.
- Add water, as needed, for creamier sauce.
Raw Hempseed Grapefruit Herb Cream

SIMPLE PLATING
- Layer the zucchini, carrot, daikon radish and the cream.
- Garnish with Glacier Lettuce and fresh dill and lemon basil.
BONUS RECIPE: Baked Zucchini Lasagna

Since I ended up with extra ingredients from the Raw Lasagna, I decided to cook a really quick and easy baked version of the lasagna. Hope you enjoy this version, as well.

SIMPLE EXTRA INGREDIENTS
- All ingredients from the Raw Zucchini Lasagna
- 1 tomato, sliced
- 2 small sweet peppers, sliced
SIMPLE STEPS
- Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Layer all ingredients into a baking pan.
- Cook for 20-30 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Stay in touch with us on www.facebook.com/ExperienceNutritionAZ and Instagram @experiencenturitionaz and tag us #experiencenutritionaz on your Raw and Cooked Zucchini Lasagna dishes and other plant-based culinary creations.

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

Self Care: Sunflower!
April 25, 2020
EXPERIENCE NUTRITION: Food & Lifestyle Tip of the Day: 5 Steps to Cook Intuitively During our Stay-at-Home. Avocado Salsa Recipe
Now that nearly everyone around the world is staying at home to help flatten the Coronavirus Curve, I will be sharing simple Food & Lifestyle Tips of the Day. The intention of the tips is to give you ideas that you could incorporate easily into your day-by-day activities around living a healthy lifestyle while we are all at home. And, in the long run implement tips that resonate with you to positively affect your life. — Melanie Albert

Some of the tips will be around plant-based food, cooking, and eating with recipes, culinary (cooking) techniques, and even food art. Other tips will focus on positivity, mindfulness, and self-care.

Meet Melanie Albert

As a little background for those of you who do not know me, a few highlights. I am the founder & CEO of Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona, and award-winning cookbook author.
- My passion is plant-based farm-to-table culinary, and I’ve led hundreds of cooking experiences, courses and retreats. I’m trained with 610 hours of plant-based culinary training.
- 2007 graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition / Certified International Health Coach
- 9 years marketing, branding, and licensing consultant with Weil Lifestyle, LLC/Andrew Weil, MD
- 5 years nutrition and cooking with former NFL players, catering and events at Super Bowls, and official Health & Wellness Partner of the NFL Alumni Association in 2011.
- 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher and nearly 20 years practicing yoga.
- For decades, I’ve lived my passion around healthy lifestyle, cooking, and eating, and am happy to share ideas with you.
- I’ve been a work-from-home entrepreneur for 25 years; thus I have decades of personal experience with being at home, and enjoying it.
I hope you are inspired by some of the motivational food and lifestyle tips I share with you.

Experience Nutrition: Food & Lifestyle Tip of the Day: Cook Intuitively…with what’s in Your Refrigerator.

What is Intuitive Cooking?

With Intuitive Cooking, we pay attention to food. We notice the shapes, colors, flavors, and aromatherapy. By listening to our heart or gut, we choose a few foods we wish to purchase (at local farmers markets, if possible). When it’s time to cook, we pay attention to our bodies. What are we craving. Which foods are we visually attracted to. Then we cook with those foods and enjoy our meals.

During our stay-at-home, it is also important to cook with our intuition. We listen to our bodies and senses. And, we cook with what’s available in our kitchens during these days when our food options may be limited.

5 Simple Steps to Get Started with Intuitive Cooking
1. Learn basic culinary (or cooking) skills or techniques and then use those skills to intuitively create dishes and meals with ease and confidence.
2. Cook with what’s in your kitchen.
3. Use a recipe as a guide.
4. Substitute ingredients in the recipe with what you have in your refrigerator.
5. Have fun experimenting and enjoy your creation.
Intuitive Cooking Avocado Salsa Recipe

Today, with intuitive cooking in mind, I created a very simple Avocado Salsa with what was in my refrigerator and little edible garden. This is a quick and easy lunch or snack. You’ll need an avocado, an aromatic (any onion), garlic (if you have it), a small tomato, citrus (lemon or lime), a fresh herb (parsley, basil, cilantro, marjoram), and sea salt. Plus, include optional ingredients for plating (such as broccoli or cauliflower).

Use this recipe as a guide for Avocado Salsa with whatever veggies are in your refrigerator. Some ideas: Green or red bell peppers, carrots, celery, cucumbers, olives.

Serves 1

Simple Ingredients
- 1 avocado
- 2 tbsp onions
- ½ tsp garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small tomato or ½ cup mini tomatoes
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp fresh herbs, such as basil, cilantro, or marjoram
- Pinch sea salt
- Optional: few broccoli stems
Simple Steps
- Chop ingredients.
Avocado Salsa: Ingredients Chopped & Ready
- Toss all ingredients into a bowl.
- Mix with a fork.
- Mindfully plate.
- Enjoy.
Please share your Avocado Salsa creations with us on Instagram @nutritionauthor #experiencenutrition and let me know if you have any cooking questions.
April 4, 2020
Experience Nutrition: “Stay-at-Home” Quick Roots & Greens Sauté. Featuring The Farm at South Mountain Spring CSA
Since October 2018, I have had the honor to create weekly recipes for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) at The Farm at South Mountain, an urban farm less than a mile from my home. To date, I’ve intuitively created 47 recipes for the members of the CSA. Each Friday, I pick up the incredible just-harvested CSA produce and herbs at The Farm from lead farmer Billy Anthony, and then come home and create a recipe for the Saturday morning CSA bags.
Cooking at Home. Right now, while more and more people are cooking at home with the Coronavirus “stay-at-home” I’m finding it even more important to share my recipes to more and more people, beyond the CSA members.

For those of you who are cooking at home, I invite you to use this recipe as a guide to sauté a simple, tasty roots and greens dish. Use whatever roots (radishes, turnips, beets, carrots) and greens (kale, collards, dandelion greens) your local farmers are growing. And, for citrus, feel free to use a lemon, orange, or grapefruit.

For the CSA members, I hope you enjoy creating this recipe with the beautiful local Arizona produce in your CSA.
- Citrus: Grapefruit, lemons
- Roots: Beets, Turnips, Mixed Radishes
- Greens: Sugar Snap Peas, Braising Greens, Gem Head Lettuce
- Farm Salad Bag with Glacier Lettuce
- Mint
- Eggs
Please share your culinary creations with us on Instagram @nutritionauthor @thefarmatsouthmountain.

Honestly, it was a little emotional picking up my CSA at The Farm on Friday, March 27, 2020. Here’s a glimpse.

Roots & Greens Sauté Recipe

Thanks to Lead Farmer Billy Anthony of the Soil & Seed Garden for growing such beautiful, tasty produce for our community. We appreciate your dedication, especially while we are Coronavirus social distancing.

Make this simple sauté with roots, greens, and the lemon from your CSA, along with an onion.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium purple daikon or another radish
- 1 medium turnip
- 3-4 stems kale
- ½ cup sugar snap peas
- 5-7 stems dandelion greens (from Farm Salad Bag)
- ½ white or red onion, or 2 green onions, sliced (not in CSA)
- 1 lemon, ½ juiced and zested
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch sea salt
- Garnish: Few mint leaves
SIMPLE STEPS

Mise en Place (Everything into place)
- Thinly slice radish and turnip with mandoline or knife.
- Pull center stems out of kale and tear leaves into bite-size pieces.
- Slice onions into moon-shapes.
- Zest the lemon.
Cook
- Pre-heat sauté pan on medium heat on stovetop.
- Once the pan is warm, place onions in pan, sauté until soft, for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add sliced radish and turnip to the pan.
- Drizzle sea salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest onto the radish and turnip.
- Sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Move radishes and turnips to the middle of the pan.
- Add snap peas, kale, and dandelion greens to the edges of the pan to cook with the olive oil.
- Drizzle a pinch of sea salt onto the green veggies.
- Cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Plate
- Plate the roots, greens, and sugar snap peas onto the plate.
- Garnish with mint.
More Plant-Based Cooking Recipes. I look forward to sharing additional recipes and ideas with you, while we area all “at home” during the Coronavirus. Please check back, as I’m also shooting some simple cooking videos for my Experience Nutrition YouTube Channel.

Sedona Cooking Retreats. A few people have been asking about the 2020 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreats. We have not yet cancelled the June 12-15, 2020 retreat, and at this point I’m pretty sure we will hold the September 18-21, 2020 retreat. Let me know (Mel@MelanieAlbert.com) if you are interested in either retreat, and I will keep in touch with you. Just fyi, link to the retreat information.

By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, LLC in Phoenix, Arizona. Plant-Based Farm-to-Table Leader, award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building and retreat leader.
March 28, 2020
Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Recipe: More than Kale Chips. 5 New Leafy Green Chips!
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author
More than kale chips. We can dehydrate all kinds of leafy greens to make chips.

This week I experimented with 5 different beautiful greens from this week’s CSA at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, grown by urban farm Billy Anthony at the Soil & Seed Garden.

When leafy greens are in season, I invite you to experiment with dehyrating them and notice which you prefer. I absolutely love shungiku (chrysanthemum) and loved this floral green dehydrated.

Simple Recipe: Leafy Green Chips: More Than Kale Chips

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

Leafy Greens
- ½ bunch mizuna
- ½ bunch shungiku (chrysanthemum)
- ½ bunch roquette arugula
- ½ bunch spigarello
- ½ bunch cauliflower greens
Leafy Greens: Mizuna, Shungiku, Arugula, Spigarello, Cauliflower

Cashew Cream
- 1 cup raw cashews, pre-soaked in water for 2-4 hours
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp roasted garlic powder
- ½ tsp dry basil
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Pinch sea salt
- 2-4 tbsp water, for desired creaminess
Cashew Cream: Mise en Place

SIMPLE STEPS

Cashew Cream
- Blend all ingredients in blender or processor.
- Add water, as needed for desired creaminess.
Dehydrated Leafy Greens
- Tear out any large stems in the leafy greens.
- One variety of greens at a time, place leaves into a large bowl.
- Add a few tablespoons of cashew cream to the greens.
Place greens and cashew cream into a small bowl.
- Gently massage cashew cream into the leafy greens.
Lightly massage the cashew cream into the greens.
- Spread greens onto dehydrator screen.
Mindfully spread greens onto dehydrator screens.
- Dehydrate at 125 degrees F for about 3 hours.
Dehydrate greens at 125 degrees F for about 3 hours.
- Test for desired crunchiness.
- Dehydrate longer to suit your taste.
- Enjoy as a snack.
More than Kale Chips. Enjoy all kinds of leafy green chips.

The Five Winter Greens
- Shungiku, often known as edible chrysanthemum, is one of my favorite flavorful greens. These greens, popular in Japan, are aromatic and floral tasting. Shungiku are generally eaten raw or gently cooked to enjoy their crunchy texture and flavor.
Shungiku: The Soil & Seed Garden, The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona.
- Mizuna, another Japanese green is a member of the mustard family, a little peppery, yet milder than arugula. These are growing in the Learning Garden at The Farm.
Mizuna: The Soil & Seed Garden, The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona.
- Roquette Arugula, one of my favorite greens, a little spicy, nutty, and sweet, adds exciting flavor to all dishes. Arugula is enjoyed both as salad greens, as an herb, and now as a dehydrated chip.
- Spigarello, technically in the broccoli family, looks like a spiral kale. Enjoy spigarello gently sauted or massaged with a simple acid-fat-salt dressing in a salad.
- Cauliflower greens. Yes, there are the edible greens that grow on cauliflower. Enjoy!
Cauliflower Greens: The Soil & Seed Garden, The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona.

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

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

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

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

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

Click to Purchase Tickets for Farm-to-Table Kids Food Art Cooking at The Farm at South Mountain with Melanie Albert, Sunday, February 10, 2019, 11am-noon

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

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

Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019

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

Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page
January 28, 2019
Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Recipe: Arizona Winter Three Greens & Citrus Salad Recipe
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author
This week’s intuitive culinary creation was inspired by the fresh, vibrant Winter Greens & Citrus from The Farm at South Mountain Soil & Seed Garden CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), grown passionately by urban farmer, Billy Anthony.

So often we sauté greens with a little olive oil, garlic, and sea salt for a nice side dish. Since The Soil & Seed Garden greens were so fresh and vibrant I decided to experiment with eating several different greens in a simple raw salad. And, I’m so glad I did. This salad is one of my very favorites. The textures and combination of citrus and mint are outstanding. Hope you try it.

The salad features Shungiku, Minutina, and Mizuna greens, Arizona navel orange, ruby grapefruit, and an Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil, imported to Arizona by Chef Chris Bianco.

The Three Winter Greens
- Shungiku, often known as edible chrysanthemum, is one of my favorite flavorful greens. These greens, popular in Japan, are aromatic and floral tasting. Shungiku are generally eaten raw or gently cooked to enjoy their crunchy texture and flavor.
- Mizuna, another Japanese green is a member of the mustard family, a little peppery, yet milder than arugula. These are growing in the Learning Garden at The Farm.
- Minutina are long, slender, spiked leaves with forking antler-like horns. When harvested young, the crunchy leaves of minutina taste a little like a mix of parsley and spinach.
The Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In addition to the greens, I’ve been experimenting with an organic extra virgin cold pressed olive oil that local Phoenix Chef Chris Bianco has recently imported from Italy. The oil, from the Pugila region, is a single variety pressed from Peranzana olives. Chef Bianco has mentioned that some of the olive trees are 400 years or more years old.

Arizona Winter Greens & Citrus Salad

This salad is perfect for the fresh Soil & Seed Garden vibrant mild tasting greens and citrus.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 1 large handful shungiku (chrysanthemum)
- 1 large handful minutina
- 1 large handful mizuna
- 1 navel orange, sliced, juiced, and zested
- 1 ruby grapefruit, sliced, juiced and zested
- 1/4 cup snap peas, sliced on diagonal
- 3-4 sprigs fresh mint
- 2 tbsp kalamata olives
- 1 tbsp capers
- 1/4 cup pecans
- ¼ cup organic extra virgin olive oil
SIMPLE STEPS

SALAD DRESSING
- Squeeze ½ of juiced orange and ½ of juiced grapefruit into mason jar. Approximately ¼ cup juice total.
- Pour in twice as much organic extra virgin olive oil as juice.
- Shake the jar.
- Notice if the dressing needs more acid (grapefruit / orange) or fat (olive oil) to suit your taste.
- Add pinch of sea salt.
- Add few mint leaves.
- Shake jar.
PLATE THE SALAD
- Place greens, snap peas, olives, capers, pecans, and mint leaves in a large bowl.
- Gently pour the dressing onto the greens.
- Hand toss to coat the greens with the dressing.
- Plate the salad with slices of orange and grapefruit.
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Let’s take a look at the final salad..

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

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

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

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

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

Click to Purchase Tickets for Farm-to-Table Kids Food Art Cooking at The Farm at South Mountain with Melanie Albert, Sunday, February 10, 2019, 11am-noon

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

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

Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019

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

Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page
January 18, 2019
Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Recipe: How to Add Beauty to Olive Tapenade
By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author
This week’s intuitive culinary creation was inspired by beautiful Winter Veggies from The Farm at South Mountain Soil & Seed Garden CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). The Farm, a local urban farm in Phoenix, Arizona, is a few minutes walk from my home and I enjoy the simple beauty of The Farm, along with the beautiful produce grown on the property.

As much as I love roasted root veggies, we can enjoy raw roots (like radishes, beets, and kohlrabi) and a quick arugula salad to elevate simple olive tapenade appetizer.

Let’s take a look at the Winter beauty of The Soil & Seed Garden, passionately farmed by urban farmer Billy Anthony.

The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Winter 2019

The Greens, Purples and Citrus in this week’s Winter CSA from the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain.

The Farm at South Mountain Soil & Seed Garden Winter CSA: Greens, Purples, and Citrus.

And, the beauty of the purple kohlrabi growing at the Soil & Seed Garden.

The Farm at South Mountain Purple Kohlrabi.

Olives and Tomato Tapenade Recipe

Sun-dried or dehydrated tomato and olive spread is a tasty topping for farmers’ market fresh raw veggies.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cups Kalamata olives, pitted
- ½ cup sun-dried or dehydrated tomatoes, soaked in water (Used previously dehydrated Campari tomatoes from McClendon Select Farm in Arizona)
- 2-3 green onions, sliced (I’itoi’s onions)
- 2 tbsp capers
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil, as needed (Chris Bianco, Pane Bianco Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Mise en Place: Olive Tomato Tapenade

SIMPLE STEPS
- Gather your mise en place.
- Roughly chop the sun-dried or dehydrated tomatoes; drain oil, if needed.
- Mince garlic.
- Add garlic and olives to food processor and pulse until fine, not paste-like.
- Remove olive and garlic mixture from the food processor.
- Place sun-dried or dehydrated tomatoes in food processor and process until fine.
- Add capers and parsley and pulse a few times.
- Mix olive/garlic mixture with sun-dried tomatoes/capers/parsley mixture with a fork.
- Add olive oil until you reach desired consistency.
- Fold in green onions.
- Enjoy the tapenade on veggies or raw crackers.
Olive Tomato Tapenade

Quick Marinated Root Veggies Recipe

With fresh veggies, a little olive oil, salt, and fresh herbs, create a beautiful olive tapenade appetizer.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 3-5 red or purple radishes
- 1 purple kohlrabi
- 1 purple daikon radish
- 2 cups arugula
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil (Chris Bianco / Pane Bianco Italian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
- 1-2 green onions (I’Itoi Onions)…sharp peppery flavor
- 1 spring fresh dill (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
- Pinch sea salt
Soil & Seed Garden: Radishes, Purple Daikon, Purple Kohlrabi, I’itoi Onions, Wild Arugula.

SIMPLE STEPS
- Thinly slice radishes and kohlrabi with a mandoline.
Thinly slice radishes with a mandoline.

The beauty of Red Radishes, Purple Daikon & Purple Kohlrabi.
- Spread the veggies flat on unbleached parchment paper.
One view of mindfulness in the kitchen.
- Gently spread a drop of olive oil on each veggie.
- Sprinkle a few grains of sea salt onto each veggie.
- Sprinkle onions and dill onto the veggies.
- Let the veggies marinade for about 15 minutes.
In awe of the marinating veggies.
- Plate tapenade with the veggies.
- Enjoy with arugula tossed in a simple salad dressing (lemon, olive oil, sea salt)
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A look at the final Tapenade & Marinated Veggies

Olive Tomato Tapenade. We eat with our eyes first.

Enjoy the Olive Tapenade, Marinated Veggies, Wild Arugula.

The Soil & Seed Garden Arugula. Tapenade. Marinated Veggies.

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

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

Purchase Tickets for the Get Clear for the New Year Vision Board & Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Saturday, January 12, 2019, 1-3pm

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

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

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

Purchase Tickets for Farm-to-Table Kids Food Art Cooking at The Farm at South Mountain with Melanie Albert, Sunday, February 10, 2019, 11am-noon

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

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

Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019

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

Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page
January 10, 2019