Experience Nutrition

Tag: simple cooking

EXPERIENCE NUTRITION: Food & Lifestyle Tip: Stay-at-Home Simple Healthy Cooking Shopping List
To eat well, cook simple meals, and do our best to stay healthy while we are all at home during the Coronavirus “stay-at-home,” it is important to be stocked with a few basic kitchen staples, along with fresh veggies and fruit.
When we first started hearing about the coronavirus in the US, I actually started thinking about what foods would be essential to have at home. I realized that they are very similar to my list of “how to stock whole food pantry” in my book “A New View of Healthy Eating” for any time of the year. – Melanie Albert

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

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

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

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

Key Shopping Categories

Use the Panty Shopping List as a guide for the ingredients to stock your pantry in the following food categories.
- Whole Grains
- Beans & Legumes
- Whole Grains
- Nuts & Seeds
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Seasonings / Sea Salt
- Dry Goods
- Fresh Produce (hopefully your local farmers markets are open)
Whole Grains

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

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

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

Experiment with a few different beans and legumes, such as:
- Garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
- Green lentils
- Red lentils
- Black beans
- Pinto
- Kidney
- Tepary Beans (especially if you’re in Arizona)
Nuts & Seeds

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

Buy a variety of raw organic nuts and seeds, such as:
- Almonds
- Cashews (great for desserts!)
- Pecans
- Walnuts
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Hemp seeds
- Chia seeds (for smoothies)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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

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

Seasonings

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

A few basic seasonings you can use now while we are “at home” and continue to cook with in the future.
- Dried Mediterranean herbs: Combination or separate herbs, such as basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme
- Seeds: Cumin (for hummus and soups)
- Dried Mexican spices: Any kind of peppers, such as chili, ancho, chipotle
- Dried spices: Cinnamon (key); Extras: nutmeg, cardamom
Dry Goods

Other extra foods to stock your pantry.
- Coconut water (for smoothies)
- Vinegar: Any kind for salad dressings, such as balsamic, red wine, rice, apple cider
- Stone-ground mustard (for salad dressings)
- Coconut oil. Virgin, unrefined (for desserts)
- Extras: Olives and goji berries (my favorite extras)
Fresh Produce

Roots

In the Daily Food & Lifestyle Tips, I will be sharing how to cook root veggies a few simple ways: Roast, Steam, Sauté, and even Raw.
- Carrots
- Beets
- Sweet potatoes
- Radishes
Greens & Veggies

We can enjoy nutrient-rich greens in side dishes, soups, and veggie bowls.
- Dark leafy greens: Kale, collards, arugula, spinach
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Bell peppers
- Your favorites
Fruit
- Bananas (freeze some for smoothies)
- Apples
- Lemons, limes (important for salad dressings)
- Avocados
- Dates
- Your favorite fruits, for snacking
- Frozen fruit: Mixed or separate berries, such as blackberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, strawberries
Fresh Herbs

Purchase a few herbs, available at your local farmers markets or grocery stores. We’ll use the herbs to add flavor to all kinds of veggie dishes. Or, if available, plant a few of your favorite herbs. Side note, here in Arizona, one of our plant-start entrepreneurs is delivering plants, including herbs, to our homes.
- Parsley
- Basil, dill, oregano, marjoram
Shopping List Guide. I invite you to use this shopping list as a guide to shop for what you can in your own area and based on your personal level of cooking. I will be sharing cooking techniques and tips every day.

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

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

By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Cooking Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.
April 9, 2020
EXPERIENCE NUTRITION Tip: Stay-at-Home Cooking Method: Braised Greens in 5 Minutes
During our Coronavirsus social distancing, stay-at-home, this 5 minute braising greens cooking method is a simple way to cook the greens your local farmers are growing. Choose any mix of dark, leafy greens such as kale, chard, collards, mustard, bok choy, dandelion, turnip, broccoli, or cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts greens.
This recipe was inspired by farmer Billy Anthony of the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain, less than a mile from my home in Phoenix, Arizona. As part of this week’s Spring 2020 CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), Billy harvested beautiful white and red Swiss chard leaves that are perfect for cooking with quick stove-top braising. Add flavor to the greens with green onions and fresh dill.

A look at The Farm at South Mountain…April 2020

Beautiful White Chard at The Farm at South Mountain

Nutrition Tip: Dark leafy greens are fiber-rich and good sources of vitamins (such as A, C, and K and folate) and minerals (including iron and calcium). Our body needs a little fat to absorb some of the vitamins in leafy greens.

Braised Leafy Greens Recipe

Use this simple method to cook Spring braising greens while we are at home with our families and loved ones. Mix and match whatever greens your local farmers are growing to create a simple veggie side dish.

Watch the full recipe video on our Experience Nutrition You Tube Channel

Serves 2

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- 2-3 cups braising greens, such as Brussels Sprouts, Swiss Chard, Cauliflower greens
- 2-3 green onions, sliced
- 2 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch sea salt
- Few sprigs dill
SIMPLE STEPS
- Chop greens into large ribbons.
- Mise en Place: All ingredients in place.
- Pre-heat sauté pan at medium.
- When the pan is warm, coat bottom with organic extra virgin olive oil
- Add the onions to the pan and sauté for about 2 minutes.
- Add the greens to the pan.
- Drizzle pinch of salt to the greens.
- Cook for about 2 minutes, while tossing to coat the greens with the olive oil.
- Add a few dill sprigs and cook for about 1 minute.
- Plate and enjoy!
By Melanie Albert, Plant-Based Cooking Leader, Founder & CEO, Experience Nutrition in Phoenix, Arizona. Award-winning cookbook author, speaker, corporate wellness, team building, retreat leader, and caterer.
April 7, 2020
EXPERIENCE NUTRITION: Food & Lifestyle Tip of the Day: 5 Steps to Cook Intuitively During our Stay-at-Home. Avocado Salsa Recipe
Now that nearly everyone around the world is staying at home to help flatten the Coronavirus Curve, I will be sharing simple Food & Lifestyle Tips of the Day. The intention of the tips is to give you ideas that you could incorporate easily into your day-by-day activities around living a healthy lifestyle while we are all at home. And, in the long run implement tips that resonate with you to positively affect your life. — Melanie Albert

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

Meet Melanie Albert

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

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

What is Intuitive Cooking?

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

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

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

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

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

Serves 1

Simple Ingredients
- 1 avocado
- 2 tbsp onions
- ½ tsp garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small tomato or ½ cup mini tomatoes
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp fresh herbs, such as basil, cilantro, or marjoram
- Pinch sea salt
- Optional: few broccoli stems
Simple Steps
- Chop ingredients.
Avocado Salsa: Ingredients Chopped & Ready
- Toss all ingredients into a bowl.
- Mix with a fork.
- Mindfully plate.
- Enjoy.
Please share your Avocado Salsa creations with us on Instagram @nutritionauthor #experiencenutrition and let me know if you have any cooking questions.
April 4, 2020
A New View of Healthy Eating: Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Arizona Farmers’ Roasted Organic Veggies
by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, retreat host, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
As I’ve been blogging recently, I really love the beautiful food our Arizona farmers are growing this season. A few of my key philosophies are to shop locally and seasonally with your local farmers, learn a few simple culinary techniques, and then when you shop, use your intuition to choose the veggies you are attracted to. Then, when you cook, cook intuitively with your culinary skills and the local veggies.

This week at the downtown Phoenix Farmers’ Market I purchased a variety of root veggies, a few staples, and fresh dill. Tonight, I cooked with the simple culinary technique of roasting veggies.

Local Arizona Winter Veggies
- White beets
- Orange carrots
- Yellow cauliflower, called “cheddar”
- Yellow tomatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Fresh dill
Other Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Dried Penzeys Fox Point seasoning (salt, shallots, chives, garlic, onion, and green peppercorns).
Simple Veggie Roasting Steps
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Wash and cut veggies into about equal size pieces.
- In a large bowl, coat veggies with organic extra virgin olive oil and dried seasoning (Fox Point today)
- Place veggies, flat-side down onto parchment-lined sheet pan.
- Roast for about 15 minutes.
- Flip veggies, and roast another 12-15 minutes.
- Mindfully plate the veggies, one-by-one, with a whole grain, like today’s brown rice with fresh dill.
- Enjoy…
If you’re interested in Melanie’s cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating” you can buy it and Melanie will gift-wrap and mail it to you.

Email

What is your top nutrition or cooking issue?
Thanks!

If your organization is interested in a cooking workshop, team building or corporate wellness event, or retreat, please let us know your interests. Thanks!

Δ
March 5, 2018
A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Quick Farm-to-Table Veggie Saute
by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Today I very intuitively created a very simple farm-to-table veggie saute with beautiful veggies in my refrigerator from local Phoenix farmers and gardeners. When I first pulled out the veggies from my refrigerator my intention was to create a cold avocado tartar with the tomatoes and carrots. While chopping the veggies I was imagining the beautiful aromatic veggie saute from last night’s “Living an Edible Landscape Life” and decided to prepare a saute.

When cooking a quick stove-top saute, first gather your veggies. Today’s veggies are from many of our local Arizona farmers.
- Green onions
- Green Spring garlic, McClendon Select
- Mini red tomatoes, Phoenix Community Exchange
- Orange carrots, Steadfast Farms
- Arizona lemon, Phoenix Community Exchange
- Kale, The Farm at South Mountain, Seed & Soil Garden
- Chrysanthemum greens, The Farm at South Mountain, Soil & Seed Garden
- Fresh dill, Joan Baron Food in the Alley, Scottsdale
- Avocado
- Sea salt
- Extra virgin olive oil
As always, mindfully pre-chop your veggies and get your mise en place set for cooking.

Once our mise en place is set, we mindfully cook the veggies, one-by-one. With this process, we can really taste the flavor layers. Start with a little olive oil, sweat the onions, add the garlic. Then add the veggies one-by-one. Intuitively, I usually add a little sea salt right after the tomatoes go into the pan, to bring out their sweetness. And, this time of year in Arizona, I love to squeeze in a little citrus to add a bright taste to the saute.

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While this dish was cooking, the natural aromatherapy of the lemons and fresh dill really made the dish a more beautiful mindful experience.

Once you’ve sauteed the veggies, mindfully plate and enjoy your farm-to-table veggies. You’ll see that I added a few dehydrated tomatoes for extra beauty and flavor.

ACTION: Have fun shopping at your local farmers’ market this weekend, and please share your veggie sautes with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

For some additional veggie saute ideas, a spread from Melanie’s book, “A New View of Healthy Eating.”

If you’re in the Phoenix area, my next hands-on intuitive cooking class, Winter Farm-to-Table Harvest is at The Farm at South Mountain, Sunday, February 18, 2018, 11am-1pm. Learn more and register here.

You can order “A New View of Healthy Eating” book and I’m happy to gift wrap for you.
February 2, 2018
A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: How to get Started with Intuitive Cooking and 2018 Week 1 Recipes
by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Today has been a full day of fun focusing on recipe creating and testing for the Final Project of the Plantlab Culinary Cooking course I’m currently taking . While working today I was intuitively creating my recipe directions, so I decided to share with you the concept of intuitive cooking and how to easily get started to shop and cook intuitively.

Excerpt from “A New View of Healthy Eating”: Cook with Intuition.

With intuitive cooking, we use recipes as guides. We first learn simple, basic culinary methods and techniques (such as raw, steaming, or roasting) to prepare real whole foods with recipes as our guide. Naturally, over time, we learn to trust our own intuition to cook foods we desire using cooking techniques we’ve learned. Over time, you will not need to rely on recipes; you’ll trust yourself and your culinary skills to create your own healthy dishes with local, seasonal food.

For instance, we learn the culinary technique to steam carrots in a bamboo steamer and use our recipe to finish the carrots with walnut oil, toasted cumin seeds, fresh lemon juice, parsley, and a pinch of sea salt. After learning the bamboo steamer technique to quickly steam veggies, we cook other steamed vegetables (such as asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, and peapods) and finish them with different oils, spices, and fresh herbs.

“With intuitive cooking we also naturally cook more mindfully, meditatively enjoying the rhythm of chopping veggies or the mindfulness of massaging kale or grating fresh spices.” – Melanie Albert

4 Steps to Get Started with Intuitive Cooking
- Step 1: Shop at a farmers’ market without a shopping list and purchase a few different veggies and fruit the local farmers’ in your area are growing. Intuitively choose foods that are beautiful to you.
- Step 2: When you get home intuitively reflect on how you’d like to cook the veggies. Will you prepare a simple saute, a salad, or roasted veggies? Just use your intuition. Is it is warm outside and you’d like a cooling salad? Or, is it is chilly outside and you’d like warming roasted veggies or soup?
- Step 3: Get your mise en place set. Chop your veggies. Get all your other ingredients, such as olive oil and sea salt ready. Gather the kitchen tools your need to cook: saute pan, flat cooking sheet, parchment paper.
- Step 4: Enjoy intuitive cooking and mindfully eating your dish.
2018 Week 1 Healthy Recipes

Now, let’s take a look at the healthy recipes this first week of 2018. Hope these recipes and culinary techniques give your ideas to cook a few healthy meals with real whole foods.
Come on over to Facebook, www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating and share your intuitive culinary creations with us.
January 7, 2018
A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Really Quick Veggie Sauté

by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
When our days are full and we don’t have a lot of time to cook, a veggie sauté is a great option for a quickly prepared dinner. Today’s veggie sauté was inspired by several of my purchases from our local Arizona farmers’, including sweet potatoes, I’itoi onions, and arugula. To these veggies, I added a tomato, green pepper, and a few of my favorites, the olives, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes. The quick sauté was a beautiful combination of warming, sweet and earthy.

Simple Steps to make a Quick Veggie Sauté

Step 1: Choose a few veggies. An aromatic onion. Some veggies with more moisture (like tomatoes and bell peppers) and some more dense root veggies, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, or beets. And, some light greens such as arugula or spinach.

Step 2: Chop veggies in different shapes for visual interest in your dish.

Step 3: Heat sauté pan at low heat. When the pan is warm, add a few tablespoons of organic extra virgin olive oil. Yes, when we use a high quality olive oil, with low acid level, below .7%, we can cook with it.

Step 4: Add onions to the pan and gently sweat for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

Step 5: Add bell pepper, increase heat to medium, and cook for a few minutes to release the flavors.

Step 6: Add tomatoes and cook for another few minutes, to build the flavor base for the sauté. Add in a few pinches of sea salt to bring out the sweetness of the tomato.

Step 7: Add sweet potatoes. Cook for another few minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft.

Step 8: Add extras such as sun-dried tomatoes (re-hydrated in a simmering pot of water for a few minutes), olives, and capers.

Step 9: Add a handful of arugula, gently toss, and cook for a minute or two.

Step 10: Plate the veggies and enjoy.

Quote from “A New View of Healthy Eating”

“Have fun preparing quick, delicious veggie stir-fries with a few simple steps. The key is to be organized. Pre-chop all your ingredients and set up your mise en place (all ingredients in place) for your cooking before you start stir-frying.” Melanie Albert

Culinary Tip from “A New View of Healthy Eating”: What’s the Difference: Sauté vs. Stir-fry

Sautéing and stir-frying are similar dry-heat cooking methods to cook food quickly. Small, bite-size pieces of food are stirred or tossed and quickly cooked over high heat. With sautéing, usually a pan or skillet is used; with a stir-fry, traditionally a wok is used. With stir-frying, the heat is higher and the action is faster with the food continuously tossed and stirred.

ACTION: Have fun shopping at your local farmers’ market and create a quick, simple, delicious veggie sauté and share your creation with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

A few Veggie Sauté ideas from book, “A New View of Healthy Eating”

Interested in more healthy recipes, culinary techniques, and nutrition tips, purchase “A New View of Healthy Eating” today!

Email

What is your top nutrition or cooking issue?
Thanks!

If your organization is interested in a cooking workshop, event, or retreat, please let us know your interests. Thanks!

Δ

January 5, 2018
A New View of Healthy Eating: Sprouted Spelt Flatbread: Cooked & Raw Cuisine
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
I’m excited to share my favorite cooked flatbread, Sprouted Spelt Flatbread, paired with Raw Pistachio Pesto and Fresh Tomatoes.

As many of you are aware, I’ve been teaching whole foods cooking for several years, and am now learning more about gourmet raw culinary with Matthew Kenney Culinary. The flatbread really brings together these two ways of cooking. Enjoy!

Organic Sprouted Spelt Flatbread

Excerpt from “A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”

A few years ago I discovered that I was sensitive to gluten (the protein in grains like wheat, barley, and rye). By exploring different grain flours, I’ve found that I’m not sensitive (no hives, no bloating, no headaches) to the Organic Sprouted Spelt Flour by One Degree Organic Foods. Have fun making your own flatbread with this simple recipe.

SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
- ¾ cup hot (not boiling) water
- 1 tbsp dry yeast
- ½ tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp organic olive oil
- 2 cups organic sprouted spelt flour
- ½ tsp sea salt
SIMPLE STEPS
1. Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees F with pizza brick in the oven.
2. Put dry yeast, honey, and olive oil into a cup with hot water.
3. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
4. Pour sprouted spelt flour and sea salt in a bowl.
5. Add the water with yeast into the flour mixture.
6. Blend with a fork for a few minutes, then knead with your hands for another few minutes. Only knead for about 3-4 minutes total; otherwise, the flatbread will be tough. If the dough is sticky, add more flour. If it’s dry, add more water.
7. Coat a large bowl with olive oil. Place dough in bowl, cover with a towel, and rest for about 15 minutes. Any additional water in the dough will soak into the flour.
8. Split the dough in half. Place 2 balls of dough into the bowl coated with olive oil, and cover for about 2 hours (to rise).
9. Again, split the dough into 2 sections and spread it onto a pizza brick using your hands.
10. Bake for 5 minutes, then check for doneness (crispy on outside and soft on inside). Bake for another 3-5 minutes if needed.
11. Enjoy.
“This Organic Sprouted Spelt Flatbread has become a staple in my home and when I travel. This year I made the flatbread with 15 pounds of the flour and my family and friends from Florida to Arizona all enjoyed its simplicity.”

Quick Pistachio Basil Pesto and Quick Marinated Tomatoes

Quick Pistachio Basil Pesto

INGREDIENTS
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves
- ¼ cup pistachios, rough chopped
- 1 TBSP organic extra virgin olive oil
- 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
- Pinch Celtic sea salt
SIMPLE STEPS
- Rough chop basil and pistachios
- Gently mix basil and pistachios with a fork in a small bowl
- Squeeze in lemon juice
- Drizzle in olive oil
- Add sea salt
- Stir
- Add extra olive oil, lemon, or sea salt, as needed for your taste
Quick Marinated Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS
- ¼ cup tomatoes (variety of small heirloom, if available)
- 1 TBSP organic extra virgin olive oil
- 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
- Pinch sea salt
SIMPLE STEPS
- Rough chop tomatoes and place in a small bowl
- Add lemon juice, olive oil, and sea salt to tomatoes
- Gently mix with a fork
- Add extra olive oil, lemon or sea salt, as needed for your taste
PLATING PRESENTATION
- Place three slices of flatbread on plate
- Spoon pesto to half of each flatbread slice
- Spoon tomatoes to the other half of each flatbread slice
- Garnish with micro greens
- Enjoy!
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If you are interested in purchasing in my book, “A New View of Healthy Eating,” stop by one of my cooking events in the Phoenix area. Or, if you are out-of-town, I’m happy to mail a copy to you.

First & Last Name

Email

What is your top nutrition or cooking issue?
Thanks!

Δ
July 2, 2017
A New View of Healthy Eating: Sweet & Rich Roasted Roots
By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Roasted roots are quick and easy to make and taste delicious and sweet every time. Today, I made a quick batch of roasted roots with rainbow carrots, radishes, and sweet potatoes. After gently tossing the roots in organic extra virgin olive with freshly ground basil and oregano, I roasted them for about 20 minutes (turning after 10) in a pre-heated 475 degree oven.

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.

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!
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“In my public and private hands-on cooking classes, I encourage participants to experiment with different herbs and spices for roasted roots. A fun way to intuitively choose herbs is to close your eyes, smell different herbs, and intuitively decide which to use when flavoring the root vegetables. Have fun and be creative.”

I am so humbled, in 3 days, I sold the first print-run of A New View of Healthy Eating. Right now, we are proofing the book and then will order the next printing. If you’d like a copy to begin to add some new culinary skills and intuitive cooking to your life, I invite you to order your copy today!

Pre-order the book today and receive Top 5 Recipes and Culinary Tips.

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August 25, 2016
A New View of Healthy Eating: Enjoy Dehydrated Organic Tomatoes
by Melanie Albert, Nutrition and food expert, author and speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
Motivational message from “A New View of Healthy Eating, A-55 Card Deck”

Enjoy Dehydrated Tomatoes

A New View of Healthy Eating: Enjoy Dehydrating Tomatoes, Bananas & Apples

Dehydrating is a simple, quick way to prepare veggies for different types of people and for different culinary uses:
- Raw Diet. Raw foodists (who eat food that is not cooked above 118 degrees) dehydrate lots of fruit, vegetables, crackers with nuts and seeds for everyday eating.
- Simple Fruit. Kids and adults of all ages enjoy dehydrated fruit (bananas, apples, persimmons) for everyday snacks.
- Culinary Delight. Chefs and culinary enthusiasts dehydrate to concentrate and intensify the flvor of food, such as tomatoes, sweet peppers and beets.
20 Pound Flat of Organic Tomatoes. A few months ago I purchased a 20 pound flat of organic tomatoes at an Arizona Farmers’ Market. I sautéed some of the tomatoes into a simple sauce with garlic and onions; roasted some tomatoes with garlic, onions, and carrots for a thick tomato sauce; and dehydrated a batch into a beautiful culinary treat with a deep, rich, sweet garnish for salads, veggies, avocado salsas, and pizza.

A New View of Healthy Eating: Dehydrated Organic Tomatoes

Home-grown Dehydrated Bananas. This week while in Cocoa Beach, Florida, we harvested dozens of bananas from my 80+ year old parents’ yard. My Dad was actually thinking about buying a dehydrator since they grow bananas year-round and literally have 100s of fresh bananas. We dehydrated our first batch of bananas for about 12 hours which are so crunchy, sweet and full of flavor. We also dehydrated a few organic apples that are so crispy and melt in your mouth.

A New View of Healthy Eating: Dehydrated Home-grown Bananas

Dehydrate! I invite you to dehydrate some fruit and share your photos on our Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

For motivational messages for healthy eating, intuitive cooking, culinary skills, mindful eating, and self care, purchase “A New Way of Healthy Eating”, A-55 Card Deck
December 23, 2015