Fennel in the Mediterranean Food Climate Fennel is one of the quintessential scents, flavors, and foods characteristic of California’s Mediterranean climate. While it is a frequent ingredient favored by Italian, Mediterranean, and modern California cuisine, it is often overlooked by Americans even though the vegetable can often be seen growing wild on along roadsides, or [...]
Fig season in California starts mid-May and runs through October. Delicate, delicious, and extremely perishable, fresh figs are best eaten within a few days of procurement, but can be stored in the refrigerator on a plate under paper towels for two to three days. According to The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, figs [...]
Carrots are harvested nearly all year long in Southern California. I often accumulate an abundance of them from my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box and run out of ideas for what to do with them. As a member of the parsley family, the carrot tops have cleansing benefits along with being a rich source of [...]
February is American Heart Month, a natural time to showcase heart-warming aphrodisiacs like chocolate, chilies, and garlic in traditional Mexican mole sauce. “Mole” comes from the Aztec word molli, which means stew or sauce. It is often made with cocoa or chocolate, ingredients the Aztecs embraced as aphrodisiacs. Chilies, members of the capsicum family, [...]
In Southern California, we are fortunate to enjoy celery all year, but its season peaks in the cooler months of November through February. Given its omnipresence, it’s easy to take this powerful health food for granted. According to Michael Murray’s Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, with only 20 calories per rib, celery is an excellent source [...]
SAVOR THE SEASON WITH THIS LOCAL SUBSTITUTE FOR CRANBERRY SAUCE Thanksgiving is a special time of gratitude – for our friends, our family, and even our farmers. As I plan menus to celebrate the harvest season, I enjoy looking at how to incorporate seasonal and local ingredients. I set out to create a California-based apple-pomegranate-strawberry relish. Fuji [...]
While healing with herbs is an ancient art, (in lineages such as Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, and other traditional systems worldwide), more than a quarter of drugs used today contain active ingredients derived from plants used in ancient medicine; aspirin is one common example. Immune system boosters and common cures for inflammation, indigestion, and other ailments [...]
The bitter melon is the most beneficial gourd of all. According to The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, a cup of bitter melon contains 23 calories; it is also an ex- cellent source of vitamins B, C, and E, folic acid, zinc, fiber, magnesium, and contains twice the potassium of a banana. Mix it with cantaloupe to [...]
We enjoy the nutritious benefits of most members of the gourd family – watermelon, cantaloupe, and cucumber – yet few of us are familiar with the most bitter, and thereby the most beneficial, gourd of all: bitter melon. Also known as balsam pear, bitter melon resembles a cucumber with bumpy, warty skin. According to The [...]
Health Benefits of Watermelon During the peak of the summer season, nature provides us with the perfect cooling and healing food. Packed with some of the most important antioxidants, including cancer-fighting lycopene, in addition to its high water content, watermelon delivers more nutrients per calorie than many other fruits. While people may be concerned about [...]