Experience Nutrition

Tag: roast veggies

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

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

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

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

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

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

     Winter CSA Week 6: 12.26.20

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

    Roasted Roots & Greens Flatbread.

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

    Steps to Prepare the Dish

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

    SIMPLE SPROUTED SPELT YEAST-FREE FLATBREAD CRUST

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

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

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1 ¼ cups sprouted spelt flour
    • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
    • ¼ tsp sea salt
    • 1 ½ tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (dough)
    • ½ cup water
    • 1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (spread on dough prior to baking)

    SIMPLE STEPS

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

    QUICK ROAST ROOTS

    Recipe Serves 2

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

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

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

    SIMPLE STEPS

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

    QUICK ROASTED KALE

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

    HEMP SEED CREAM

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

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

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

    SIMPLE STEPS

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

    Mindfully plate your flatbread and enjoy.

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

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

    Pause and enjoy plating your Flatbread.

    Bake for another 8 minutes after plating the flatbread.

    Enjoy!

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

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

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

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

    While more of us are now baking bread and pizza at home during the Coronavirus social distancing and staying at home, I wanted to share with you a recipe we cooked during our Fall 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreat. This recipe will give you an option if you live in an area where you are not able to purchase yeast at this point, or if you don’t normally keep yeast in your pantry.

    For the flatbread, roast some vegetables, create a simple nut sauce, and enjoy a nice meal with your family. During our retreat we enjoyed cooking with beautiful local food grown by Whipstone Farm in Paulden, Arizona and The Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix.

    Enjoy your flatbread with roasted veggies, hummus, tomatoes, salsa, or even a drizzle of olive oil. And, please share your creations with us on Instagram @plantbasedexperiences #plantbasedexperiences

    EXPERIENCE NUTRITIONTM Yeast-Free Quick Flatbread

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 ¼ cups sprouted spelt flour
    • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
    • ¼ tsp sea salt
    • 1 ½ tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (dough)
    • ½ cup water
    • 1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (spread on dough prior to baking)

    Simple Steps

    • Place pizza stone into oven. Pre-heat oven to 390 degrees F. Pre-bake stone for about 5 minutes.
    • In large glass bowl, with a fork mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt.
    • Add 3/8 cup water and oil until dough forms a ball. Add additional water, as needed
    • Knead on a lightly floured surface for 3-4 minutes.
    • Flatten out the dough on floured parchment-paper.
    • With parchment paper on top of the dough, roll thinly with a rolling pin.
    • Carefully move flatbread to pre-heated pizza stone.
    • Spread 1 tbsp of olive oil onto the flatbread.
    • Bake flatbread for 5 minutes.
    • Remove stone from oven.
    • Spread hemp seed cream (recipe below) on the top of the flatbread.
    • Add roasted veggies to the top of the flatbread. (See two ways to roast veggies below.)
    • Cook flatbread for about 8 minutes.
    • Garnish with edible flowers.
    • Enjoy!

    Look at the beautiful, delicious plant-based farm-to-table flatbread intuitively created at our 2019 Sedona Retreat, and a glimpse of beautiful self care meditation at Cathedral Rock to inspire you to pause and take time for you these days.

    The Sedona Retreat flatbread features beautiful veggies grown by Whipstone Farm in Paulden, Arizona and flowers grown at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix.

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    Amazing nourishing dinner, with the Farm-to-Table Flatbread at our Fall 2019 Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreat.
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    Mediation. Breathwork. Awe….Omm…at Cathedral Rock. With Patricia Fonseca of Back to Earth Sedona Tours.

    ROASTED VEGGIES TWO WAYS

    Choose a few of your favorite veggies and one of the following two culinary techniques to roast veggies for your flatbread. For the Sedona Retreat flatbread we roasted beautiful local veggies grown by Whipstone Farm including kohlrabi, cauliflower, radishes, leeks, potatoes, and peppers.

    Simple Ingredients

    • 5-7 of your favorite veggies, sliced
    • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • 1/2 tsp sea salt

    Original Roasted Veggies Culinary Technique

    With this technique, we use a flat parchment-paper lined sheet pan. Space the veggies out, not touching. This way, the veggies are cooked from the heat of the bottom of the pan which caramelizes them a little, along with the heat in the oven circulating around them.

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

    Simple Steps

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

    Quick Roasted Veggies

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

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

    HEMP SEED CREAM

    Simple Ingredients

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

    Simple Steps

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

    Hope you enjoy making flatbread in a new way, without yeast, and enjoy it with your family these days. Feel free to share your creations with us on Instagram @plantbasedexperiences #plantbasedexperiences

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

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

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table with The Farm at South Mountain: Green Hummus

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table with The Farm at South Mountain: Green Hummus

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

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

    This week I decided to experiment with hummus and the Soil & Seed Garden’s Chrysanthemum Greens and Onion Dill, enjoyed with Roasted Diplomat Broccoli and Radishes.

    Let’s take a look at the Winter CSA in March 2019

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    The Farm at South Mountain Soil & Seed Garden CSA, March 2019

    Especially inspired by the Chrysanthemum Greens and Onion Chives

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    Green & Red inspiration for this week’s intuitive dish.

    Winter Farm-to-Table Hummus and Roasted Veggies Recipe

    GREEN HUMMUS RECIPE

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
    • ⅓ cup chickpea water
    • 3 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste or sesame seeds)
    • 2 tbsp fresh grapefruit juice (or lemon juice)
    • 3-4 stems Shungiki (Chrysanthemum Greens)
    • 8-10 Onion Chives
    • Pinch sea salt
    • 2 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
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    Green Hummus Mise en Place

    Simple Steps

    • Place all ingredients (except olive oil, greens, and chives) into high-speed blender (such as Vitamix) or food processor.
    • Blend until smooth.
    • Add in the greens and chives, and blend.
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    Adding the Chrysanthemum Greens and Onion Dill to the base hummus.
    • With food processor running, stream in olive oil.
    • After the hummus has been blended, taste and add more of any of the ingredients to suit your taste.

    ROASTED DIPLOMAT BROCCOLI & RADISHES RECIPE

    Simple Ingredients from the Soil & Seed Garden

    • 10-12 radishes, sliced
    • 3-4 Diplomat Broccoli stalks, sliced
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    The Farm at South Mountain Soil & Seed Garden: Diplomat Broccoli. Radishes.

    Other Simple Ingredients

    • 2 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 1/2 tsp sea salt

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice veggies into bite-sized pieces.
    • In a bowl, gently coat veggies with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
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    Lightly toss veggies in olive oil with a pinch of sea salt.
    • Place veggies on parchment-lined flat sheet pan, flat side down with veggies not touching.
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    Mindfully place radishes and broccoli on parchment-lined flat sheet pan.
    • Roast for 12 minutes.
    • Flip veggies.
    • Roast for another 12 minutes.
    • Plate veggies with the hummus.

    Mise en place for the Hummus. Broccoli. Radishes.

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    Mise en place (all ingredients in place) for the Green Hummus. Broccoli. Radishes.

    The plating of the hummus…

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    Enjoy Green Hummus with Roasted Broccoli and Radishes for Snacktime.

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

     

    Another look at the Mise en Place for the Green Hummus. Diplomat Broccoli. Radishes. Plus, Red Beet and Red Dragonfruit Hummus for plating.

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    Plating Mise en Place: Hummus. Diplomat Broccoli. Radishes.

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

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

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

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

    Spring Farm-to-Table Flatbread

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

    Let’s take a look at the Spring CSA

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    The Farm at South Mountain: CSA March 2019

    SPRING FLATBREAD RECIPE STEPS

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

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

    ROASTED VEGGIES RECIPE

    Simple Ingredients from the Soil & Seed Garden

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

    Other Simple Ingredients

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

    Simple Steps

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

    SAUTEED GREENS AND PURPLES

    Simple Ingredients from Soil & Seed Garden

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

    Simple Steps

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

    Greens & Purples Sauteed for the Flatbread

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    The beauty of the greens and purples.

    CASHEW CREAM

    Simple Ingredients

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

     

    Simple Steps

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

    EXPERIENCE NUTRITIONTM Yeast-Free Quick Flatbread

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 ¼ cups sprouted spelt flour
    • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
    • ¼ tsp sea salt
    • 1 ½ tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (dough)
    • ½ cup water
    • 1 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil (spread on dough prior to baking)
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    Mise en place set for the Yeast-free Quick Flatbread.

    Simple Steps

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

     

    • Add 3/8 cup water and oil until dough forms a ball. Add additional water, as needed.
    • Knead on a lightly floured surface for 3-4 minutes.
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    Kneed the dough for 3-4 minutes.
    • Flatten out the dough on floured parchment-paper.
    • With parchment paper on top of the dough, roll thinly with a rolling pin.
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    Roll out the flatbread with a rolling pin.
    • Carefully move flatbread to pre-heated pizza stone.
    • Spread 1 tbsp of olive oil onto the flatbread.
    • Bake flatbread for 5 minutes.
    • Remove stone from oven.
    • Spread cashew cream on the top of the flatbread.
    • Add veggies to the top of the flatbread.
    • Cook for about 8 minutes.
    • Garnish with edible flowers.
    • Enjoy!

    Mise en Place Spring Farm-to-Table Flatbread

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    Mise en place to prepare the Spring Flatbread.

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

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

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    The beauty of the Spring Farm-to-Table Flatbread.

    Mouthwatering…

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    Spring Farm-to-Table Flatbread. Sauteed Greens.

     

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

    IMG_5493

     

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

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

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

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

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

     

     

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

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    Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Behind the Scenes for The List TV Shoot

    Experience Nutrition: Behind the Scenes for The List TV Shoot

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

    As an entrepreneur, I am totally living my passion. Connecting with our local Arizona farmers and chef friends, and having so much fun every day enjoying real whole foods.

    I am so humbled to be invited to appear on tv segments with The List TV Show, produced by Scripps, right here in Phoenix, Arizona, and aired in 41 markets across the USA.

    In the recent February 2019 segment our focus was the HMR Diet, rated as the #1 weight loss diet by US News & World Report. Our angle was to create 3 different meals taking into account the 3 2 5 philosophy of HMR. That is, eat 3 Shakes a Day, 2 Entrees a Day, and 5 Servings of Veggies and Fruit a Day.

    Pre-Production with the Producer

    The producer, Olivia Schneider and I wanted all of the meals to be simple to prepare and in keeping with my plant-based focus. For the shake, we decided to make home-made cashew milk as the base for a raspberry smoothie. For the Entree we chose a Farm-to-Table Veggie Bowl with Brown Rice, and for the Veggies, it’s a colorful Farm-to-Table Roots and Greens Salad with a vibrant rainbow of veggies.

    Farm-to-Table Just Harvested Produce for the Shoot

    A few days prior the tv shoot — as soon as the recipes were approved –I reached out to my passionate urban farmer friend, Billy Anthony at The Farm at South Mountain. Billy supplied us with literally “just-harvested” produce for the shoot including all kinds of beautiful roots, greens, veggies, edible flowers, and even a floral arrangement.

    A Quick Look at The Farm at South Mountain Soil & Seed Garden

    Billy was kind enough to organize and label the produce, so the different types of unique veggies and greens would be perfectly clear. Even the edible flowers were labeled.

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    Thanks to Billy for the beautiful farm-to-table floral arrangement for our kitchen set.

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    Day Before the Shoot: Finalize the Recipes

    A little more than 24 hours before the shoot, I started to intuitively decide which veggies would make sense with the two different veggie dishes: Roasted Farm-to-Table Veggie Bowl and Rainbow Salad. And, we finalized the recipes that we’d be filming.

    Food for the Shoot

    Incredibly beautiful just-harvested produce from the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain.

    Day of Shoot Food Pre-Production

    The morning of the shoot started quite early, around 6am as I began to cook and prep food for the shoot, so we’d be ready with the final components of each of the dishes for on-camera. Just for fun, my pre-shoot cooking check-list.

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    Behind the scene out-takes from Pre-Prep

    A video look at the pre-production prep for The List TV Shoot…all set for the Crew.

    The Kitchen Set

    Right at 1pm, when I had just finished cooking and organizing the pre-prep food, the crew arrived and set up my kitchen for the shoot.

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    We all loved the edible flowers. Thanks so much to urban farmer, Billy Anthony at The Farm at South Mountain.

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    On Set: The Make your Own Shake: Raspberry Goji Berry Cashew Milk Smoothie

    On Set: The Farm-to-Table Roasted Veggie Bowl

    On Set: The Beautiful Farm-to-Table Roots & Greens Salad

    The beautiful dishes we created, with plating by  The List TV Show Co-Host Segun Oduolowu.

    Now, lets’ take a look at the beautiful dishes we creating during the shoot. During the segment, I guided The List co-host Segun Oduolowu to plate the dishes. Thanks again to urban farmer, Billy Anthony  for the beautiful food grown at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain. Thanks so much to The List for the opportunity to work together to bring these “create your own dishes” to your viewers.

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    Please join the Experience Nutrition Blog and come back for the step-by-step photos of the creating of the recipes created in for this tv segment with The List.

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

    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

    Mel-Billy-Grid-1

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

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

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

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

     

     

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

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

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

     

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Cooking with The Farm at South Mountain: 15 Arizona Greens & 1 Green Drink

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Cooking with The Farm at South Mountain: 15 Arizona Greens & 1 Green Drink

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

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

    During the last few weeks, Billy has been growing and we’ve been enjoying so many different greens. What I love about the greens is that they are so beautiful with so many various shapes, sizes, textures, and colors. And, they offer different flavors. Some more mild. Some very spicy. Plus, we can enjoy greens raw in salads and beverages, lightly sautéed in a side dish, and even as dehydrated chips. Think kale chips.

    Oh my…the wide variety of greens grown at The Farm’s Soil & Seed Garden this 2019 Fall / Winter Season.

    1. Borage greens
    2. Broccoli greens
    3. Cauliflower greens
    4. Collard greens
    5. Hon tsai tai
    6. Kale
    7. Minutina
    8. Mizuna
    9. Mustard Greens
    10. Rainbow Chard
    11. Red Pac Choy
    12. Roquette Arugula
    13. Shungiku (chrysanthemum)
    14. Spigarello
    15. Tatsoi

    Let’s take a look at Soil & Seed Garden. Always beautiful. And, one of my favorite places to pause and enjoy nature…right in my neighborhood.

    And, the beauty of edible flowers…

    AA-TheFarm-edible-flowers-IMG_4873 - Copy-Reducesizetest

    Broccoli Kale Orange Green Drink Recipe

    This week I decided to try something different with the greens. A Green Drink, featuring the kale, sprouting broccoli, and fresh mint grown at the Soil & Seed Garden by urban gardener Billy Anthony.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    From the Soil & Seed Garden

    • 1 cup kale leaves
    • 1 cup sprouting broccoli
    • 2 small oranges, peeled
    • 3 sprigs fresh mint

    Other Ingredients

    • 2 cups coconut water
    • 1 banana, cut and frozen

    A-greendrink.jpeg

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Place kale, broccoli, and coconut water into high speed blender and blend for about a minute.
    • Add oranges and mint. Blend for a minute.
    • Add bananas and blend another minute.

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    • Enjoy as a refreshing breakfast or snack.

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    Garnish with a few sprigs of broccoli, mint, and edible flowers…Enjoy!

    A-greendrink-IMG_5410

    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

    Mel-Billy-Grid-1

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

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

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

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

     

     

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

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

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

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

    IMG_4825

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Cooking with The Farm at South Mountain: Fragrant Winter Greens Gremolata Recipe

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Cooking with The Farm at South Mountain: Fragrant Winter Greens Gremolata Recipe

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

    Each week I have the incredible opportunity to enjoy the beautiful food grown by urban farmer Billy Anthony at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona, and to create delicious dishes with Soil & Seed Garden CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

    Twelve years ago when I was studying at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York, I can honestly say that I did not cook, or even eat greens, like kale, arugula, or collards. Today, I eat them a few times a week and prepare them different ways. Sometimes raw and sometimes cooked. Hope you enjoy this new greens creation, inspired by the Shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) and fresh cilantro.

    Let’s take a look at the beauty of The Farm at South Mountain this Winter week in Phoenix, Arizona.

    A-thefarm-poppy-IMG_E2396
    Poppies at The Farm at South Mountain…breathe in the beauty.

    Now, let’s take a look at The Farm’s Winter CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

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    Winter CSA Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona. So many amazing greens.

    Fragrant Winter Greens Gremolata Recipe

    In awe of the beauty and aromatherapy of the greens and cilantro grown by urban farmer Billy Anthony at the Soil & Seed Garden. With a fresh ruby grapefruit dressing, unique gremolata is a perfect accent to roasted veggies.

    A-greens-ingredients-IMG_2868
    Greens all set for the Fragrant Gremolata: Chrysanthemum, Minutina, Spigarella, Arugula, Cilantro.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    From the Soil & Seed Garden

    • 3-4 stems Shungiku (chrysanthemum greens)
    • 3-4 stems Minutina
    • 3-4 stems Spigarello Greens
    • 3-4 stems Roquette Arugula
    • Small bunch fresh cilantro
    • ½ Ruby Grapefruit, juiced (about 1/8 cup) and zested

    Other Ingredients

    • ½ Lemon, juiced (about 1/8 cup) and zested
    • ½ cup organic extra virgin olive oil
    • ¼ cup pecans
    • 2-3 garlic cloves
    • Pinch sea salt

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Rough chop all of the greens into bite-sized pieces.

    Ruby Grapefruit Dressing

    • Zest ruby grapefruit & lemon.
    • Squeeze grapefruit and lemon juice into 8 oz Mason jar. Approximately ¼ cup of juice.
    • Add twice as much olive oil as the citrus juice. Approximately ½ cup.
    • Shake jar.
    • Taste and adjust. Add more olive oil, grapefruit or lemon juice for your taste preference.
    • Add pinch of sea salt. Shake.

    Gremolata

    • Place all ingredients into a medium bowl.
    • Add dressing.
    • Gently toss.
    C-dressing-IMG_2930
    Gremolata Mise en Place.
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    Gremolata ready to toss.
    • Serve with roasted local veggies, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes.
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    Local Arizona roasted veggies to enjoy with the Fragrant Gremolata.

    This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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    Arizona Winter Fragrant Greens Gremolata. Roasted Veggies.
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    Enjoy Roasted Veggies and Gremolata.

    Enjoy!

     

    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

    Mel-Billy-Grid-1

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

     

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

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

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

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Cooking with The Farm at South Mountain: Specialty Greens & Di Cicco Broccoli Saute. Top 5 Tips to Saute Greens

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Cooking with The Farm at South Mountain: Specialty Greens & Di Cicco Broccoli Saute. Top 5 Tips to Saute Greens

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

    For the last 13 weeks I’ve had the honor and opportunity to create recipes with the beautiful food grown by urban farmer Billy Anthony at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain, located about a half mile from my home in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve been visiting The Farm since 2005 and always love the beauty of the seasonal produce, flowers, and herbs growing.

    This Winter I’m loving the variety of greens growing at The Farm; some mild, some grassy, and some spicy. It’s fun to mix and match with the greens to create a simple side dish.

    Let’s take a look at the beauty of The Farm this Winter.

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    The Farm at South Mountain. Soil & Seed Garden. January 2019 Morning.
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    The Farm at South Mountain. Soil & Seed Garden. Beautiful edible flowers.

    Now, let’s take a look at The Farm’s Winter CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

    B-TheFarmCSA-IMG_1754
    The Farm at South Mountain Winter CSA

    Specialty Greens Di Cicco Broccoli Orange Sauté RECIPE

    In awe of the beauty of the greens and di cicco broccoli grown by urban farmer Billy Anthony at the Soil & Seed Garden.  With fresh sage and navel orange, this dish is simple, warming, sweet, savory, and delicious.

    B-TheFarm-Stir-012619-IMG_1766
    Mise en Place…

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 1 bunch di cicco broccoli
    • 3-4 stems Hon Tsai Tai
    • 3-4 stems Purple Orach
    • 5-7 fresh sage leaves
    • 1 navel orange, juiced and zested
    • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • Pinch sea salt
    C-TheFarm-stir-012619-IMG_1792
    Mise en Place: Greens & Di Cicco Broccoli Navel Saute

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Pre-heat sauté pan on medium.
    • Add oil to coat bottom of the pan.
    • Add sage leaves to the pan and cook for about 1 minute.
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    Fresh Sage in the Saute Pan
    • Add broccoli leaves, florets, and stalk to pan and sauté for a minute.
    • Add Hon Tsai Tai to pan and sauté for a minute.
    C-sautepan-IMG_1802
    Add greens one by one, and gently saute for about a minute.
    • Add Purple Orach to pan and sauté for another minute.
    • Squeeze orange juice and a pinch of sea salt onto the greens.
    • Sauté all greens for another minute.
    • Plate with orange zest and raw greens.
    • Enjoy!
    D-TheFarm-stir-plate-012619-IMG_1868
    Greens & Di Cicco Broccoli Orange Saute

    AA-GreensSaute-IMG_1879

    GET TO KNOW: Di Cicco Broccoli, Hon Tsai Tai, and Purple Orach

    Di Cicco Broccoli. Beautiful Italian heirloom small (3-4”) bluish-green broccoli. Great raw or lightly sauted.

    B-TheFarm-012619-stir-Broccoli-IMG_1774
    Di Cicco Broccoli, Soil & Seed Garden, The Farm at South Mountain

    Hon Tsai Tai. Chinese specialty with purple stems and budded yellow flowers. Mild mustard taste which works well raw in salads or gently cooked in sautés or soups.

    B-TheFarm-stir-Hontsaitai-IMG_1788
    Hon Tsai Tai, Soil & Seed Garden, The Farm at South Mountain

    Purple Orach. Beautiful deep purple mountain spinach, with large, spade-shaped leaves. Adds color and beauty to salads and sautés.

    B-TheFarm-012619-orach-IMG_1781
    Purple Orach, Soil & Seed Garden, The Farm at South Mountain

    TOP 5 TIPS TO SAUTE GREENS PERFECTLY EVERY TIME

    1. Choose a variety of greens. Different shapes and colors. Some mild, some bitter.
    2. Pre-heat the saute pan prior to adding the oil.
    3. Add a pinch of salt when sauteing to bring out the flavor in the greens.
    4. Add citrus – orange, lemon, or grapefruit – to add contrasting acid to the dish.
    5. Only cook greens for a few minutes. Enjoy them with a little crunch.

    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, ARIZONABB-01-A-13-VisitPhoenix-ExperienceNutrition-TeamBuliding-MelanieDessert-IMG_2119

    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

     

     

    BB-002-MelanieAlbert-TomShanahanTheFarm-Feb17-2019

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

    Mel-Billy-Grid-1

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

     

     

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

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

     

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

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

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

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

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Recipe: How to Add Beauty to Olive Tapenade

    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.

    IMG_8059
    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.

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    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.

    A-TheFarm-Kohlrabi-IMG_8077
    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)
    A-03-tapenade-IMG_8738
    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.

    B-tapenade-IMG_8746

    • Add olive oil until you reach desired consistency.
    • Fold in green onions.
    • Enjoy the tapenade on veggies or raw crackers.
    B-tapenade-IMG_8772
    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
    A-01-veggies-tapenade-IMG_8726
    Soil & Seed Garden: Radishes, Purple Daikon, Purple Kohlrabi, I’itoi Onions, Wild Arugula.

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Thinly slice radishes and kohlrabi with a mandoline.
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    Thinly slice radishes with a mandoline.
    C-mandoline-IMG_E8809
    The beauty of Red Radishes, Purple Daikon & Purple Kohlrabi.
    • Spread the veggies flat on unbleached parchment paper.
    C-mandoline-IMG_8816
    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.
    C-mandoline-IMG_E8831
    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)

    This slideshow requires JavaScript.

    A look at the final Tapenade &  Marinated Veggies

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    Olive Tomato Tapenade. We eat with our eyes first.

    Enjoy the Olive Tapenade, Marinated Veggies, Wild Arugula.

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    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, ARIZONABB-01-A-13-VisitPhoenix-ExperienceNutrition-TeamBuliding-MelanieDessert-IMG_2119

    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

     

     

    BB-002-MelanieAlbert-TomShanahanTheFarm-Feb17-2019

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

    Mel-Billy-Grid-1

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

     

     

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

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

     

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

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

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

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

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Cooking: Top 5 Tips to Perfectly Roast Veggies Every Time

    Experience Nutrition: Farm-to-Table Cooking: Top 5 Tips to Perfectly Roast Veggies Every Time

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

    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.

    In the cooler Fall and Winter seasons one of my favorite ways to cook veggies is roasting. With roasting we cook the veggies in the oven to brown the outside of the veggies, while keeping the center of the veggies a little soft. We can roast all kinds of veggies which gives us a nice variety of tastes, textures, and colors.

    Today’s roasted veggies were created by intuitively choosing veggies that I was visually attracted to and feature local Arizona farmers organic veggies purchased at one of our Phoenix area farmers’ markets, Uptown Market.

    At the market I was very excited to buy the first Jerusalem Artichokes (also known as Sunchokes) of the season as they are one of my favorite roots. Sunchokes, a relative of sunflowers, have a sweet rich earthy taste.

    A-Sunchokes-IMG_8093
    Sunchokes

    Let’s take a look at the local Arizona Farmers’ Winter Veggies from the Uptown Farmers Market.

    A-Uptown-010519-IMG_8083
    Winter Arizona Veggies Uptown Phoenix Farmers Market

    Farm-to-Table Winter Roasted Veggies Recipe

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    A-RoastedRoots-IMG_8168
    Mise en Place: Roasted Arizona Winter Veggies
    • 2-3 Ruby Radishes (Bene Vivendo)
    • 1 Golden Beet (Blue Sky Organic Farms, Litchfield)
    • 3 Orange and Yellow Carrots (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 Leek (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 2 Green Onions (Blue Sky Organic Farms)
    • 1 Sweet Potato (Crooked Sky Farm, previously purchased at the Downtown Phoenix Market)
    • 3 Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes) (McClendon Select)
    • 3 Garlic Cloves (McClendon Select)
    • 2-3 TBSP organic extra virgin olive oil (Pane Bianco, Chef Chris Bianco, Phoenix)
    • Pinch sea salt

    SIMPLE STEPS

    • Pre-heat oven to 400-425 degrees Fahrenheit.
    • Chop all veggies into equal-sized pieces.
    A-RoastedRoots-IMG_8173
    Winter Arizona Veggies all Chopped for Roasting
    • Coat veggies with olive oil and seasonings.
    • Place flat side down on parchment-paper lined flat sheet pan.
    A-RoastedVeggies-IMG_8190
    Veggies carefully place on parchment-paper lined sheet pan.
    A-RoastedVeggies-IMG_8189
    More veggies mindfully placed on pan, including the sunchokes.
    • Cook for 15 minutes.
    • Flip.
    • Cook another 15 minutes.
    • Enjoy as a side dish with a whole grain or as toppings for flatbread.
    C-RoastedVeggieFlatbread-IMG_E8317
    Winter Veggie Sprouted Spelt Flatbread
    C-RoastedVegFlatbread-IMG_E8328
    Enjoy Winter Roasted Veggies on Flatbread

    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 that side of the veggie 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 veggies (like carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes) take longer to cook than water-rich veggies, like onions and zucchini.

    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, ARIZONABB-01-A-13-VisitPhoenix-ExperienceNutrition-TeamBuliding-MelanieDessert-IMG_2119

    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

     

     

    BB-002-MelanieAlbert-TomShanahanTheFarm-Feb17-2019

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

    Mel-Billy-Grid-1

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

     

     

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

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

     

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

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

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

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

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

     

  • Experience Nutrition Farm-to-Table Recipes with The Farm at South Mountain Fall CSA: Roast Radishes & Turnips

    Experience Nutrition Farm-to-Table Recipes with The Farm at South Mountain Fall CSA: Roast Radishes & Turnips

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

    This Fall season in Phoenix, Arizona, I’ve been intuitively creating dishes with the beautiful veggies grown at The Farm at South Mountain CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Thanks so much to Billy Anthony for his hard work and passion to grow such incredible, tasty food at the Soil & Seed Garden.

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

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

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    The Vibrant Scarlet Turnips

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    The Beautiful Black Spanish & French Breakfast Radishes

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

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

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 black Spanish Radish, cut into circles
    • 3 French Breakfast radishes, sliced
    • 1 purple daikon radish, sliced into circles
    • 3-4 Scarlet turnips with greens, sliced
    • Handful chives
    • 1 purple bell pepper, sliced
    • 1 sweet potato, roughly cubed
    • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 3-4 tbsp seasoning, blend of dried herbs and sea salt.  (Used Penzey’s Fox Point Seasoning)

    Simple Steps

    • Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
    • Slice all veggies.
    • In small bowl, thoroughly coat each vegetable with olive oil and seasoning.
    • Place vegetables on parchment-lined sheet pan, without touching.
    • Roast 15 minutes.
    • Remove cooked vegetables,  such as chives and turnips.
    • Flip remaining vegetables.
    • Cook another 12 minutes.
    • Plate and enjoy.

    Veggies, ready for the oven.

    The roasted veggies, ready for plating.

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    Time to enjoy the roasted veggies…

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    One more plate…quite rustic…

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    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page

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

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

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

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  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Two Veggies and Quinoa Beautiful Lunch

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLCs

    This morning, listening to my body, I noticed that I was quite hungry way before my typical lunch time, was prepping for a meeting, and wanted to make something really quick, healthy and delicious.

    During the Christmas holidays in Cocoa Beach, I showed my 91-year old Dad how to roast sweet potatoes with a really easy method, and I had a beautiful Romanesco broccoli from one of our local Arizona farmers, Steadfast Farm. Since I knew I was hungry, I decided to also cook a batch of quinoa.

    I only have a few photos from today, as I was not intending to blog about this dish. However, the final plating is so beautiful and delicious, I’m sharing today.

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    2 Veggie Lunch: Romanesco & Sweet Potatoes

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 2-3 sweet potatoes
    • 1 small Romanesco
    • Pinch sea salt or a blend of spices. Today, I used Penzeys Spices Fox Point blend: salt, shallots, chives, garlic, onion, and green pepper corns
    • 2-3 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 tsp basil olive oil
    • 1 cup quinoa

    SIMPLE STEPS

    Quinoa

    • Rinse quinoa in a strainer.
    • Pour quinoa into a small pot.
    • Add 2 cups liquid, water or veggie stock.
    • Cover pot, bring to a boil.
    • Simmer for about 15 minutes, with lid tight.
    • Sit for about 10 minutes.
    • With a fork, fluff around the edges of the quinoa.

    Simple Steps to Roast Veggies, Excerpt from “A New View of Healthy Eating”

    Sweet & Rich Roasted Roots

    Roasted roots are beautiful, flavorful, and sweet, as well as a rich, colorful complement to any meal. The roasting culinary technique is a dry heat cooking method that intensifies and concentrates the flavor of vegetables. When roasted properly, the natural sugars in the vegetables brown or caramelize to create a deep, rich flavor. When visiting your farmers’ market, buy a few roots even if you don’t recognize them, and roast them with this simple, quick culinary technique. Enjoy roasted roots as a side dish, to create soup, with hummus, or in a raw kale salad or veggie wrap.

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    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 10-12 of your favorite roots: carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, golden beets, red beets, and radishes
    • Approximately ¼ cup organic extra virgin olive oil
    • 3 tbsp dry herbs (Choose a few: basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, or thyme)
    • ½ tsp sea salt

    SIMPLE STEPS

    1. Pre-heat oven to 475 degrees F.
    2. Scrub roots under running water to clean the outside.
    3. Let sit for about 10 minutes to dry.
    4. Slice roots into even, bite-size pieces.
    5. Mix olive oil, herbs, and sea salt in a bowl to make the dressing.
    6. Add root vegetables to the bowl and toss to evenly coat with the dressing.
    7. Carefully lay the roots on parchment paper in a heavy-duty flat baking sheet pan. Place roots flat side down in a single layer, making sure the vegetables do not touch.
    8. Place baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven.
    9. Roast roots in the oven for about 20 minutes, then turn vegetables.
    10. Cook another 15 minutes, until fork tender.
    11. Plate vegetables. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
    12. Enjoy!

    Have Fun Plating your Veggies and Quinoa

    • Spoon quinoa, then sweet potatoes, then Romanesco on the plate.
    • Add a few of your favorite extras. Today, I added rough chopped pistachio nuts and capers.
    • Drizzle with oil. Today, I drizzled with Hutun Basil Extra Virgin Olive oil.

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    ACTION: Roast a few veggies, cook a whole grain, plate, and enjoy. Share your creations with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating or tag #NewViewHealthyEating

    Melanie’s book, “A New View of Healthy Eating” is available to ship to you, or see you at an upcoming event in the Phoenix area.

     

     

     

     

     

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: How to Roast Beautiful Veggies: Romanesco and Sweet Potatoes

    A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: How to Roast Beautiful Veggies: Romanesco and Sweet Potatoes

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    Roasting veggies is such a simple culinary technique that I taught my 88- and 91-year old Mom and Dad how to prepare them while in Cocoa Beach during the Christmas 2017 holiday. The key is to choose a few of your favorite veggies, add some organic extra virgin olive, oil, and sea salt or a mix of dried herbs. I was so excited to purchase a Romanesco cauliflower, a beautiful blend of cauliflower and broccoli and local Arizona farmers’ sweet potatoes for today’s roasted veggies.

    Simple Steps to Roast Romanesco and Sweet Potatoes

    Inspired by the beautiful Romanesco!

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    Step 1: Get set with your mise en place – all ingredients in place: Romanesco, sweet potato, organic extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt.

     

    Step 2: Steam Romanesco. Prior to roasting, steam chopped romanesco in bamboo steamer for about 5 minutes. The romanesco is ready when fork easily slides into the veggie.

     

    Step 3:  Gently toss sweet potato and romanesco with organic extra virgin olive oil and pinch of sea salt.

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    Step 4: Mindfully place veggies on a sheet pan. Be sure the veggies do not touch, to prevent them from steaming.

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    Step 5: Roast veggies in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Flip and roast another 8-12 minutes. Sweet potatoes will be crisp on outsie and soft inside.

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    Step 6: Get set for plating. Today, I added home-made hummus, olives, and capers to the roasted romanesco and sweet potatoes.

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    Step 7: Have fun mindfully plating your veggies. Be intuitive and remember, we eat with our eyes first.

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    Step 8: Mindfully enjoy your meal!

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    YOUR ACTION: Choose a few of your favorite veggies, roast and plate them. Enjoy. And, share your culinary creation with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

     

     

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Roast Romanesco Cauliflower Intuitive Cooking Recipe

    A New View of Healthy Eating: Roast Romanesco Cauliflower Intuitive Cooking Recipe

    By Melanie Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    Right now in Phoenix, there are all kinds of beautiful cauliflower at our local farmers’ markets: white, yellow, purple, and Romanesco, which is a cross between cauliflower and broccoli.

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    Because the Romanesco cauliflower is so incredibly beautiful, I love to cook it whole to enjoy its beauty when served. My latest cookbook,” A New View of Healthy Eating,” includes the culinary technique of roasting veggies. You can use these same simple steps to roast Romanesco cauliflower. When roasted, cauliflower becomes earthy and so delicious.

    Enjoy cooking!

    Simple Ingredients

    • Romanesco cauliflower
    • Organic extra virgin olive oil
    • A few of your favorite dried herbs (such as basil, oregano, marjoram)
    • Sea salt or Himalayan salt

    Simple Steps

    • Hand grind dried herbs and sea salt with mortar and pestle.
    • Add dried herbs to bowl with organic extra virgin olive oil.
    • Toss and coat cauliflower with the olive oil and dried herbs.
    • Roast in oven for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

    Mindfully enjoy the process of hand-grinding dried herbs with salt.

    Roast the Romanesco cauliflower on unbleached parchment paper, along with rainbow carrots.

    Enjoy Romanesco cauliflower with tri-color organic quinoa and roasted rainbow carrots.

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    Come over to Facebook www.facebook.com/NewViewHealhyEating and share photos of your roasted cauliflower with us.

    For more ways to enjoy cooking whole foods, my new cookbook, “A New View of Heathy Eating” is now available for purchase:

     

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