My favorite brand of vinegars is from Sparrow Lane.  They make so many beautifully flavored vinegars and one of my favorites is their Walnut Champagne Vinegar.  Mixed with their Golden Balsamic, it makes such a delicious base for a salt and oil free salad dressing.  As soon as fall comes around, all I can think about is my Pear & Arugula Salad using this vinegar in the dressing.  This year I added diced apples and figs for a beautiful fall salad sure to please your palate. 

Studies show that you can maintain, and/or regain that youthful vibrant skin glow by eating carotenoid rich foods.  Studies show that just after 6 weeks of eating a carotenoid rich diet, you’ll definitely see a difference!  Read all about it here!  Think yellow, orange, red, dark green and purple colored fruits and vegetables.  This salad is a delicious way to eat a healthy dose of carotenoids to get your glow on!

I get so excited when I learn about super nutrient rich foods that are healing and vibrant, easy to make and oh so delicious.  Sprouts fill the bill!  They are tiny but mighty, nutrition wise.  In fact, sprouts win the gold medal for the most nutrient rich food!  They have 20-30x the nutrients of other vegetables and 100X more than meat! This dish is so good, so refreshing, so energizing! I changed the recipe a very little bit by replacing the salt with lemon in the cashew cream and left out the oil.  It did not need it!  

Attending the Plant Based Nutrition Healthcare Conference, (virtually this year) always inspires me learning something new from each Doctor/Presenter.   This year I was enthralled with Plant based dietician, Julieanna Hever.  Her talk was how to get all the nutrients you need in a day by eating 3 servings of 5 categories of food, and the 6th category being exercise.  You can read more about it here.

My garden is overflowing with chili peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes and cilantro.  Curiously, they were growing next to each other.  I think they so wanted to be with each other in a recipe!  Sofrito is the answer–a Puerto Rican raw salsa. There are many different geographical variations of this fresh mixture of onions, garlic, cilantro, aji dulce peppers, tomatoes, and red & green bell pepper, quickly chopped into a fine paste in a food processor. What you’re left with is enough sofrito to add some serious flavor to weeks of meals. Think black beans, a salad dressing, cooked with roasted veggies, taco topping, and more!