Garlic scapes are the curly stalks that develop on hard-necked variety of garlic plants. They are cut off when they start to curl to allow the developing bulb in the ground to grow bigger before harvest.

These edible stalks are tender, juicy and have an incredible garlic flavour that mellows with cooking.

Only available for a short period of time in late spring, it is rare to find fresh scapes in grocery stores. Look for them at farmer’s markets and fruit stands or plant your own.

This version of a pesto type spread is potent and a little goes a long ways. Since it makes approximately 2 cups, you can put half cup portions in the freezer for later use.

Use it on potatoes, rice, pasta and stir fry dishes; rub onto fish, chicken and veggies before grilling; also makes an unusual base sauce for pizza.

Almond & Garlic Scape Pasta is:
- Diabetic Friendly
- Detox Friendly
- Gluten Free
- High Fiber
- Vegan
- Vitamix Recipe

Ingredients
8 – 10 fresh garlic scapes
2/3 cup almonds, soaked and rinsed
1/2 – 3/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt

Directions
1. Soak almonds for a couple of hours or over night. Rinse and drain.
2. Wash and cut the garlic scapes into manageable pieces.
3. Put 1/2 cup of olive oil and all other ingredients in the Vitamix (or food processor)
4. Pulse the Vitamix, using the plunger to push the ingredients into the blades.
5. Blend until smooth, adding extra olive oil if required to create the desired consistency.
Can be stored in fridge for up to a month or frozen in small quantities.

Today I was craving creamy, spicy Hummus Dip. When I realized I didn’t have a couple of the key ingredients on hand, rather than being disappointed, I decided to experiment and came up with a pretty amazing product.

I was out of fresh lemons and tahini, so I substituted apple cider vinegar for the fresh lemon juice and almond butter for the tahini. The resulting dip, Hummus 2.0, is delicious!

Hummus 2.0 is:
- Diabetic Friendly
- Detox Friendly
- Vegan
- Gluten Free
- High Fiber

Ingredients
1½ cup cooked chickpeas
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons almond butter
1 – 2 cloves peeled garlic
½ tsp sea salt
2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon cayenne powder (more or less to taste)
¼ to ½ cup water (or liquid from chickpeas if using canned ones)

Directions
1. Put smallest amount of all ingredients into blender
2. Turn blender on low and slowly increase speed, using plunger to keep food in blades
3. Add more water if required to keep the hummus in a dip like consistency
4. Turn blender to high for 30 seconds, and then turn off
5. Taste and add more garlic and/or cayenne to suit taste
6. Blend again until smooth and creamy
7. Enjoy as a dip for cut veggies, nuts, crackers, etc
Can be stored in fridge for several days.

Not just for pita chips, Hummus is the ideal dip for vegetable sticks such as carrot sticks, celery, broccoli, rutabaga, cucumber, etc.

Hummus Dip is:
- Diabetic Friendly
- Gluten Free
- High Fiber

Ingredients
1 ½ cup cooked chickpeas
Juice from half a lemon (more or less to taste)
2 tablespoons tahini
1 – 2 cloves peeled garlic
½ tsp sea salt
2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon cayenne powder (more or less to taste)
¼ to ½ cup water (or liquid from chickpeas if using canned ones)

Directions
1. Put smallest amount of all ingredients into blender
2. Turn blender on low and slowly increase speed, using plunger to keep food in blades
3. Add more water if required to keep the hummus in a dip like consistency
4. Turn blender to high for 30 seconds, then turn off
5. Taste and add more garlic, lemon juice, and cayenne to suit taste
6. Blend again until smooth and creamy
7. Enjoy

Can be stored in fridge for several days.

I love this time of year when the dandelions are in full bloom. Those ubiquitous yellow flowers are like little bright spots of sunnyness shining their light and love everywhere.

But even before the flowers appear, the green leaves can be found hiding amongst the grass. If you are lucky, like me, to have a dandelion graced lawn (rather than an uptight manicured lawn) then you have an endless supply of dandelion greens to put in your smoothie, salad, pesto, saag, stew, soup, wrap, sandwich and any other dish that requires greens.

Dandelion Greens are one of the best sources of beta-carotene and they supply high amounts of potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and fibre, as well as many other trace minerals and nutrients.

In addition to their richness of nutrients, Dandelion Greens have both a tonic and cleansing action in the body, especially focusing their healing energy on the kidney and liver.

A food that is both tonic and cleansing might seem like a contradiction. To understand the tonic/cleansing concept better, think about what exercise does for your body. For example, when you exercise you sweat … which is cleansing … AND you build-up muscle tissue … which is toning. Dandelion, and other greens work in a similar fashion, they tone up the liver and kidney tissues while gently cleansing … without the sweat of a workout.

Just a handful of dandelion greens each day will provide you with amazing nutrients. If you want more of a cleansing detox action, slowly build up to taking 2 or 3 handfuls each day.

Lots of books will tell you that greens should be harvested early in the morning after the dew has dried. This is great advice, especially if you want to harvest a large amount of dandelion leaves at a time and store them in the fridge.

But don’t let that ‘rule’ get in the way of using the greens daily. With such an abundance in my yard I tend to use the “hey I should add some dandelion greens to this dish” harvesting method, and pick my greens as needed … regardless of the time of day.

If you use chemicals on your lawn … stop! Stop using chemicals so you can safely consume the dandelions.

Here’s a simple blender recipe to introduce you to Dandelion Greens as a food.

Dandelion Apple Drink

Dandelion Apple Drink is:
- vegan
- dairy free
- gluten free

Ingredients
½ apple
15-20 Dandelion leaves
2 cups water

Directions
1. Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.
2. Serve over ice.

Quinoa (pronounced “keen wah”) is a super-nutrient grain-like product that comes to us from high in the Andes Mountains of South American.

Botanically speaking, Quinoa is a member of the Goosefoot Family (Chenopodiaceae). Other distinguished super-nutrient members of the Goosefoot clan are Beets, Swiss Chard, Spinach, and Amaranth.

That’s quite a line-up of stars from one family!

Quinoa seeds cook up quickly and are as versatile as any food I know.

I like to keep a cooked pot of either Quinoa or Brown Rice on hand in the fridge to use as the base for breakfast cereal, super salad, or as a quick snack on its own splashed with a little Tamari sauce.

Quinoa supplies nutrition and bulk to soups and stews.

The uncooked seeds can be ground up and used as gluten free flour.

If you are into the raw lifestyle, Quinoa can be soaked and/or sprouted and incorporated into raw recipes.

Quinoa is an excellent source of protein, calcium, iron and B-vitamins

Cooked Quinoa is:
- low alkaline forming
- dairy free
- diabetic friendly
- gluten free
- vegan

Ingredients
1 cup Quinoa seeds
2 cups filtered water

Directions
1. Put Quinoa seeds into a fine mesh sieve and rinse with cold water
2. Add rinsed Quinoa seeds to water in medium sized pot
3. Turn heat to high just until the water starts to boil, then turn heat to simmer and place lid on pot.
4. Let simmer with lid on for 20 minutes.
5. When 20 minutes has passed, gently lift the lid and tilt the pan slightly to the side. If the Quinoa holds in place, it is ready. If the Quinoa starts to slide, there is still too much moisture in the pot, so put the lid back on and return it to the heat for a few more minutes. But watch carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn.

See Brown Rice for Breakfast for ideas on how to use cooked Quinoa as a breakfast cereal and simply substitute Quinoa for rice.

For lunch, dinner or untraditional breakfast, use cooked Quinoa in a super salad … tomorrow’s entry.

As a quick and nutritious snack, toss cold cooked Quinoa with Tamari soy sauce, or your favourite spices, and enjoy. 

Cooked Quinoa will store in the fridge for up to a week.

Almond milk is easy to make at home … really!

When you make your own almond milk you avoid having to deal with the cartons, both lugging them home from the store, and sending them back to the recycler. And home made almond milk is much more economical than the commercially prepared brands, especially if you purchase almonds in bulk and store them in the freezer.

Another advantage of making your own almond milk, is you can sweeten it how you choose … or don’t sweeten it at all. And you can filter it or not. This flexability allows you to create almond milk to suit your particular need. For instance, if I am going to use the almond milk in a recipe that already contains sweetening ingredients, I make an unsweetened version. I make a sweetened almond milk to pour on my unsweetened breakfast cereal (usually cooked brown rice or quiona).

The only time I filter my almond milk is when I am going to drink it on its own.

It takes less than 5 minutes to make a full litre of almond milk that will keep in the fridge for several days.

Almond milk is
- low alkaline forming
- dairy free
- diabetic friendly
- gluten free
- raw
- vegan

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
4 cups filtered water

Optional Ingredients
Sweetener: 1-2 pitted dates OR 1 tbsp honey OR 1 tbsp maple syrup
Flavouring: pinch of sea salt, splash of vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla bean, 1 tsp cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg
Enhancer: 1 tbsp organic coconut oil (adds richness to the finished product) 

Directions
1. Place almonds and water into high speed blender (Vita-mix works perfectly for this)
2. Blend on high for about 60 seconds
3. Decide what type of almond milk you want and follow the appropriate directions below.

For unsweetened, filtered milk:
- Pour it through a strainer or nut milk bag. The ‘pulp’ will keep in the fridge for several days, or can be dehydrated and ground up into almond flour. 
- Enjoy the milk as is, over ice, or added to recipes

For sweetened, filtered milk:
- Pour it through a strainer or nut milk bag. The ‘pulp’ will keep in the fridge for several days, or can be dehydrated and ground up into almond flour.
- Put the filtered ‘milk’ back in the blender
- Add your choosen sweeteners, flavourings and/or enhancer and blend for about 30 seconds. When using dates as a sweetener, you may need to blend a little longer to ensure the dates are completly broken down.
- Enjoy the milk as is, over ice, or added to recipes

For unsweetened, unfiltered milk:
- You’re done!
- Enjoy the milk as is, over ice, or added to recipes

For sweetened, unfiltered milk:
- Add your choosen sweeteners, flavourings and/or enhancer and blend for about 30 seconds. When using dates as a sweetener, you may need to blend a little longer to ensure the dates are completly broken down.
- Enjoy the milk as is, over ice, or added to recipes

I’m avoiding the stores today. Its too frustrating to see all those beautiful fresh berries packaged up in plastic baskets and bags. Tomorrow I’ll go to the Farmer’s Market to restock my fridge. At least there I can buy bulk fruit in cardboard boxes or fill up my own bags.

So instead of shopping for fresh fruit today, I decided to dig into my freezer and see what I could come up with for an afternoon treat. There wasn’t much there except frozen grapes and cranberries. That started me thinking about how refreshing the combined flavours of sweet and sour are.

Wow! Did I ever come up with a wonderful recipe! In fact it was so good that I didn’t want it to end … so I made a second batch …

Cranberry Grape Cooler is
- Dairy Free
- Gluten Free
- Raw

Ingredients
2 cups frozen grapes
½ cup frozen cranberries
1 tsp honey
Splash of Vanilla Extract
2 cups water
1-2 tsp Maca Powder (optional) Maca, the powdered root of a South American plant, is known as a ‘super food’ that provides a vital energy lift.

Directions
1. Put all ingredients in blender.
2. Blend on high until the cranberries are thoroughly broken down
3. Enjoy … in a wine glass of course

Today I’m taking a respite from the plastic insanity to bring you this raw food tidbit and low crap recipe.

Have you ever wished there was a way that you could get all the goodness of a big salad everyday without the fuss?

You wish is about to come true!

I’ve been doing some serious lurking in the online raw food movement for almost a year, experimenting on myself to see if eating raw food would make any type of significant difference in my health. The answer to that question is “absolutely”! And I will be blogging more about raw food in the future.

For today I want to tell you how you can ingest a full days worth of raw veggies and fruit in one sitting … without a fork. The way to do that is by making a blended salad, where all the salad ingredients, including the dressing, are blended up and served in a glass.

Sound gross? … only until you try it.

The trick is to put in one sweet fruit such as apple, pineapple, peach, etc and a little bit of something acidic such as lemon, lime or apple cider vinegar, and then go wild with the rest of the ingredients. I also like to include a clove of garlic for its health giving and protective properties.

Making a blended salad is much faster than making a regular salad because you don’t have to chop anything – the blender does all the work. Which also makes clean up a breeze. A quick rinse of the knife, cutting board and blender when your done, throw the produce trimmings in the compost and your good to go! Another great thing about blended salads is you can easily take them with you in a ‘go cup’.

Below are some guidelines for making a blended salad, but don’t be afraid to experiment with what you have on hand.

Ingredients
1-2 handfuls of leafy greens (spinach, beet greens, cilantro, lettuce, kale, chard, etc)
1 tomato
½ – 1 sweet pepper (red, green, or orange)
Cucumber (long English, field, etc)
1 clove garlic
½ – 1 cup sweet fruit (pineapple, apple, peach, mango, etc)
½ lemon or lime OR ½-1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
½ – 1 cup Filtered water (depending on how thick you like your blended salad)
Optional: 1 or 2 pitted dates; ½ tbsp honey or maple syrup; ½ carrot; ½ beet; fresh peas or beans; fennel or celery stalks; other salad ingredients

Directions
1.Place all ingredients in blender
2.Blend until smooth. You may need to use the blender’s plunger.
3.Serve in a wine glass, over ice if you like your salad cold.

Quick, satisfying, easy cleanup. Raspberry Shake can also be frozen in popsicle molds for a nurishing cool off on a hot afternoon.

Raspberry Shake is:
- Low to medium alkaline forming depending on what nuts you use
- Diabetic Friendly
- Gluten Free
- High Fiber

Ingredients
½ cup raw nuts (macadamias, cashews, almonds or your favourite)
1 or 2 dates, pit removed
2 cups water
1 cup frozen raspberries or if you want to use fresh raspberries, add ½ cup of ice cubes
Splash of Vanilla extract (optional)
¼ inch fresh ginger root (optional)

Directions
1. Place nuts, dates, water, and fresh ginger root (if using) in blender and blend until smooth
2. Add raspberries and blend again until smooth and frothy
3. Enjoy!

Orange Juice with a Fresh Green Twist

Do know where orange juice comes from?

Ok that’s a bit of a smart-ass question … but to make a point I thought I would ask.

Of course orange juice comes from oranges. But most of the orange juice for sale in supermarkets has been pasteurized and hot packed in plastic bottles. So you are buying an inferior product in non-degradable packaging. Sure it’s inexpensive and convenient, but at what cost to our health and our environment?

Why not make your own orange juice with your blender. (A VitaMix is ideal for this task.)

And while your at it, throw in some fresh greens and you’ve got a high fiber super drink at a fraction of the cost of purchasing powdered green super food, which by the way, is also a processed food housed in a pesky plastic tub.

OGJ is:
- Neutral Alkaline forming when made with spinach
- Medium Alkaline forming when made with Kale
- Diabetic Friendly
- Gluten Free
- High Fiber 
- Raw

OGJ is best enjoyed fresh and it will keep in fridge for up to 12 hours.

Ingredients
1 orange peeled
1-2 handfuls of any leafy greens such as spinach and kale
¼ lime peeled
¼ – ½ inch fresh ginger (optional)
2 cups water
Ice (optional)

Directions
1. Wash all ingredients under running water.
2. Place all ingredients in blender (put leafy greens in last)
3. Add 2 cups filtered water
4. Blend until all ingredients are well pulverized (30-45 seconds in a VitaMix) and the OGJ is a frothy bright green
5. Serve over ice