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
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
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.
Mise en Place: Roasted Veggies
In a bowl, gently coat veggies with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
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.
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.
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
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.
Saute greens lightly and quickly with squeeze of fresh grapefruit juice and a pinch of sea salt.
Greens & Purples Sauteed for the Flatbread
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)
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Thanks to Billy for the beautiful farm-to-table floral arrangement for our kitchen set.
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.
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.
We all loved the edible flowers. Thanks so much to urban farmer, Billy Anthony at The Farm at South Mountain.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Borage greens
Broccoli greens
Cauliflower greens
Collard greens
Hon tsai tai
Kale
Minutina
Mizuna
Mustard Greens
Rainbow Chard
Red Pac Choy
Roquette Arugula
Shungiku (chrysanthemum)
Spigarello
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…
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
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.
Enjoy as a refreshing breakfast or snack.
Garnish with a few sprigs of broccoli, mint, and edible flowers…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
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.
View food differently with mindful cooking and eating.
Enjoy urban farm-to-table cooking experience.
Experience self-care with hiking and yoga.
Take home retreat experiences to be healthier & make positive long-term lifestyle changes.
During our Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Fall 2019 Retreat, you’ll experience several days of hands-on, simple plant-based cooking with organic food, mindfulness in the kitchen and eating. We’ll enjoy a farm-to-table cooking experience at a local urban farm. You’ll experience self-care with hiking and yoga in the beauty of Sedona.
In the memorable life-changing retreat, our intention is for you to enjoy the cooking and self-care experiences during the retreat and then most importantly take home the experiences and plant-based cooking learning from the retreat to make positive lifestyle changes in your lives.
Learn Simple Ways to Cook Healthy Plant-Based Organic Food
During the Sedona retreat, our key focus is simple, beautiful, healthy plant-based cooking. We’ll enjoy cooking and eating beautiful, fresh, delicious farm-to-table plant-based meals. Alongside award-winning cookbook author, Melanie Albert from Phoenix, Arizona, you’ll learn simple culinary skills for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
With interactive, hands-on cooking with local Arizona farmers organic produce, you’ll learn simple plant-based culinary techniques. We’ll focus on learning the cooking methods and guiding you to be intuitive with your cooking so you will be able to cook intuitively at home with seasonal produce grown by your local farmers.
All of the cooking is based on the anti-inflammatory way of eating, Mediterranean way of eating, and inspired by the Blue Zones, where people live the longest and healthiest lives. Learn during the retreat and feel confident to prepare the foods when you return home.
Award-Winning Cookbook Author, Melanie Albert at the Sedona Retreat House
Key Plant-Based Foods
During the retreat, you’ll learn simple plant-based culinary methods to cook key healthy plant-based foods. Our organic retreat meals feature as much local Arizona farmers food, as possible.
Roots & Greens
Whole Grains
Beans
Nuts & Seeds
Superfoods
Plant-Based Culinary Techniques
During all of the meals, you’ll learn a variety of cooking techniques to use when you return home. The culinary techniques during the retreat:
Proper steps to sauté veggies with flavor layering.
Steps to roast veggies for crispiness on the outside and a soft inside.
The process to cook flavorful veggie soups.
Simple steps to prepare whole grains perfectly every time.
Steps to create a 3-ingredient salad dressing.
Ways to create beautiful raw salads with what your local farmers are growing in season.
Steps to make raw dehydrated crackers.
Techniques to create simple raw sauces.
Plant-based dessert techniques with nuts, fruit, raw cacao, and superfoods.
Organic, Local Arizona Farmers Produce
RETREAT HIGHLIGHTS: Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Retreat with Award-Winning Cookbook Author, Melanie Albert
Sedona Eco-Retreat House: 3-Days and 3-nights at eco-retreat house in the beauty of Sedona, Arizona.
Noon-3:00pm Drive from Sedona to Phoenix for flights
ADD-ON TO RETREAT: ANTELOPE CANYON EXCURSION
Monday, September 16, 2019
6:00-7:00am Early Breakfast at Retreat House
7:00-8:00am Drive to Flagstaff
8:30-5:00pm Drive and Tour Antelope Canyon
5:30-7:30pm Dinner in Flagstaff
7:30pm+ Hotel in Flagstaff
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
8:00am-1:00pm Drive to Phoenix
To learn more about the retreat and to chat with retreat host, Melanie Albert, please fill out the form, or give me a call at 602.615.2486 or e-mail: Mel@MelanieAlbert.com
I look forward to connecting for both of us to get to know each other and to answer any questions about the retreat. — Melanie
ABOUT OUR LIGHT HOUSE Retreat House
Eco-Home. We are thrilled to hold our retreat at the Light House in Sedona, a truly eco-home with a collection of indoor and outdoor spaces created with a complimentary merging of Indonesian, Japanese, Moroccan and East Indian cultures. The Light House offers a full natural sensory environment with comforting courtyards, peaceful meditation gardens, hanging lounges, tranquil pools, and restful waterfalls.
Sedona Eco-Home Retreat House
Feng Shui.The Light House incorporates the principles of Feng Shui to create an environment that is energetically aligned promoting harmony, serenity, creativity, and vitality. An impressive cleansing crystal is strategically placed in the center of the house to ensure a healthy environment and numerous Feng Shui essentials are found throughout this landmark home. The Light House is the perfect environment to relax, reduce stress, and rejuvenate.
Welcome to our Retreat House
Salt-water Pool. Light House features a beautiful salt-water pool and Jacuzzi to unwind.
Retreat House Beautiful Salt Water Pool
Sedona Beauty. The natural outdoor beauty of Sedona is just out the back door with the beautiful Oak Creek and a glimpse of Cathedral Rock.
Our Retreat Home View of Cathedral Rock
Our Retreat Bedrooms
The Light House Retreat features 6 unique bedrooms, with a variety of beds and accommodates couples or singles. We welcome a group of friends or couples to attend the retreat
ONE: Downstairs Master with King and sitting room. Unique custom ‘pebble’ master bathtub and large glass steam shower.
TWO: Downstairs Off-Master with Queen. Private bedroom off Master. Shares master bathroom with ‘pebble’ bathtub and large glass steam shower.
Downstairs Master. King.
Master Bathroom
Downstairs Queen, off Master.
THREE: Downstairs Asia Room with King.Outdoor hallway to room with lounging sofa, desk and glass window views.
FOUR: Downstairs Bali Room with 2 Queens.Screen door access to outside lounging and garden areas.
FIVE: Upstairs Private King. Private outdoor patio with view of pool and Cathedral Rock. Shares bathroom with Sunrise Room.
SIX: Sunrise Room Upstairs Loft with Queen and Double. Fun loft. Shares bathroom with Private King.
ABOUT SEDONA
Beautiful, magical Sedona is a true oasis, a paradise in the middle of the northern Arizona desert. In Sedona, enjoy canyons, green forest, azure skies, and the dramatic red rock formations that glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun. Sedona offers adventures including red rock jeep tours, hiking, Slide Rock, and Oak Creek Canyon, as well spiritual healing, psychic readings, and energy vortexes. Sedona will have your senses buzzing for days! Sedona offers a unique, one-of-a- kind culture and is an experience of a lifetime.
To learn more about the retreat and to chat with retreat host, Melanie Albert, please fill out the form, or give me a call at 602.615.2486 or e-mail: Mel@MelanieAlbert.com
I look forward to connecting for both of us to get to know each other and to answer any questions about the retreat. — Melanie
Top 11 Reasons to Go on a Plant-Based Cooking Retreat
During our Sedona Plant-Based Cooking Fall 2019 Retreat, you’ll experience several days of hands-on, simple plant-based cooking, mindfulness in the kitchen and eating. We’ll enjoy a farm-to-table cooking experience at a local urban farm. You’ll experience self-care with hiking and yoga in the beauty of Sedona.
In the memorable life-changing retreat, our intention is for you to enjoy the cooking and self-care experiences during the retreat and then most importantly take home the experiences and plant-based cooking learning from the retreat to make positive lifestyle changes in your lives.
LEARN TO COOK SIMPLE, BEAUTIFUL PLANT-BASED MEALS
Have fun with hands-on interactive cooking with Plant-Based Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. With hands-on interactive cooking you’ll learn culinary techniques to prepare a variety of plant-based breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
ONE: Learn How to Prepare Simple Delicious Healthy Breakfasts
Learn the basic culinary techniques to prepare plant-based breakfast options and when you return home intuitively create your own breakfasts with your favorite whole grains, nuts, seeds, and fruit.
Whole Grains (gluten-free)
Quick, easy, and tasty nut and seed milk
Superfood Smoothies
Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding
TWO: Learn to Cook a Variety of Plant-Based Lunches
For lunch, our focus is preparing beautiful, tasty raw salads, raw taco, and cold soup.
Raw Massaged Kale Salad with fruit, berries, nuts, and seeds. 3-ingredient salad dressing.
Avocado Tartare with fresh veggies
Raw Almond Walnut Taco with Quick Pickled Veggies
Cold Veggie Soup
Raw Dehydrated Crackers
THREE: Learn how to prepare tasty, healthy plant-based Appetizers, Meals, and Dessert for Plant-Based Dinners
For dinner, we’ll cook complete plant-based meals with delicious Mediterranean appetizers, Veggie Main Dishes, and beautiful, tasty desserts.
Mediterranean Appetizers
Hummus, Hempseed Tabouli, Olive Tapenade
Meals
Veggie Sautés (Roots & Greens)
Roasted Veggie Flatbread
Turmeric Lentil Soup
Veggie Brown Rice Pilaf
Raw Deconstructed Lasagna
Deconstructed Lasagna
Desserts
Raw Superfood Pie
Raw Cacao Berry Pie
Aromatic Apple Crisp
Raw Cacao Berry Pie
FOUR: Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Class at an Arizona Organic Farm
Enjoy a true farm-to-table experience. Tour a local organic farm with an Arizona urban farmer. Have fun cooking your dinner right at the farm with just-harvested produce from the farm and local farmers markets. Enjoy your culinary creations in the beauty of the farm.
Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition. Getting set for a farm-to-table cooking experience.
FIVE: Enjoy an afternoon Snack at a Local Sedona Plant-Based Restaurant
After hiking in Sedona, we’ll stop by a popular organic vegetarian Sedona restaurant to enjoy their delicious plant-based creations and chocolate treats.
MINDFUL COOKING & EATING
SIX: Practice Mindfulness while Cooking, Plating, and Eating
During the retreat, we’ll focus on mindfulness and being present throughout the cooking process. We’ll practice mindfulness while cooking our meals, beautifully plating our food, and enjoying our meals together.
Mindful Cooking. During the retreat, we will focus on mindfulness and being present while cooking, as part of the cooking process and a form of self-care. We will:
Mindfully choose the ingredients (beautiful veggies) and herbs and spices for our dishes.
Mindfully chop our food. (Learn basic knife skills).
Enjoy the beauty, the colors, the textures, the shapes, and the aromatherapy of our food.
Mindfully set up our mise en place. That is, get all of our ingredients in place before we start cooking for mindfulness and organization.
Learn to plate your foods beautifully. Since we eat with our eyes first, you will learn skills to plate foods beautifully. You’ll learn fundamental principles in the art of plating. You’ll have the opportunity to practice plating skills every time we cook and begin to develop your own plating style. We’ll use edible garnishes, herbs, and flowers in our plating to elevate the eye-appeal of our meals.
Mindful Eating. We’ll mindfully enjoy our meals in the beautiful Sedona environment with our retreat community. We’ll enjoy meals in the beauty of the retreat house and in the beauty of the Sedona Red Rocks. We’ll pause, slow down, and really enjoy the beauty and flavors of the food we prepare.
SELF CARE IN THE MAGIC OF SEDONA
SEVEN: Take time for your own self-care, relaxing in the beauty of the retreat house. Get away from day-to-day life. Retreats are the perfect place to really take time for you. Away from work, responsibilities, and technology. During your Sedona retreat, unplug and allow yourself to settle into quiet, to relax, recharge and reflect.
Relax at our Retreat House
EIGHT: Enjoy hiking and nature in beautiful, magical Sedona, Arizona. In Sedona, we can immerse ourselves in nature by hiking with the grounding red rock and expansive big sky environment which provides the perfect place to exercise and unwind. In Sedona, we’ll hike in the Vortex energy, breath in the fresh air, and enjoy the magnificent sunsets.
Cathedral Rock: Melanie Albert’s very favorite spot in Sedona.Hike at the Sedona Airport Vortex
NINE: Practice yoga on the Sedona Rocks and our private yoga studio at the retreat house. Participate in a yoga class or practice on your own for self-care, quiet, and meditation during the retreat.
Retreat House Private Yoga Studio
Enjoy One-of-A Kind Sedona Experiences
TEN: Enjoy Memorable One-of-A-Kind Sedona Experiences. Only in Sedona experiences. During the retreat, you’ll experience the Sedona magic with Spiritual Reading, and a private Kiva Ceremony.
ELEVEN: Visit Magnificent Antelope Canyon.As a special add-on to the retreat, visit one of the most magnificent spots in Arizona on our adventure day to the Antelope Canyon, one of the most beautiful, mesmerizing, photographic locations in the world. A photographer’s dream, the canyon is known for its wave-like structure and the light beams that shine directly down into the openings of the canyon, creating a supernatural appearance.
