This Nasturtium Pesto, with it’s bright green color and bold flavor rings in Spring time. It’s of course, perfect over grain-free and gluten-free pasta. I served mine with millet capellini by Big Green Organic Foods because it’s pretty close to the real thing. This pesto is great over eggs in the morning, a topping on fish, or avocado toast, it’s the ultimate condiment. It is super easy to make, 9 ingredients total in the food processor, mortar and pestle or high speed blender.

This soup is my latest favorite soup. It’s creamy, without the dairy, super healthy, filled with minerals and vitamins, and carries a perfect umami taste from the miso and it is gorgeous to look at from the stunning orange of the Kabocha squash.

These Italian Pine Nut Cookies are soft in the center and crispy on the outside cookies are a classic Italian treat found in traditional bakeries all over Italy. These sweet morsels originate from Sicily and sing with the flavors of sweet almond paste and nutty pignoli (pine nuts in Italian).

Sticking with the unconventional and untraditional Thanksgiving side dish theme, I have come up with this stunning, incredibly delicious, different, and satisfying sweet potato dish. I literally created it on a dime, when recently wondering what to do with three vivid purple sweet potatoes sitting on and staring at me from the kitchen counter. I could have sworn I heard little voices screaming “eat me!” 

Okay, I will admit this side dish is not a very traditional Thanksgiving side dish but will make a great addition to a rounded-out and creative meal. I sometimes crave something other than the usual suspects, like mashed potatoes and stuffing, and preferably gluten-free and dairy-free. As I mention in the title, it is simple, super simple with only 8 ingredients, about 15 minutes of prep time and 20-25 minutes in the oven. I will personally take simple, easy, and non-complicated when it comes to a holiday meal. At least some of the dishes.

I am constantly trying to find creative and tasty ways to eat my greens, I have exhausted greens in green smoothies, green juices, and soups, and here finally is a simple, and tasty way to eat your greens. This recipe has 11 ingredients and cooks up in less than 20 minutes. I like to use a variety of greens from my garden and farmer’s market and whatever you do, save your turnip, radish, and beet tops to throw into the mix. Serve, smothered over, quinoa, basmati rice, or sweet potatoes or as a fabulous side dish. It’s delish.

This sweet, exotic, crunchy spice topping is the sweet tooth’s answer to its savory counterpart from Egypt. Regular dukkah is a wonderful topping for labne (check out my Coconut Labne here), salads, soups, and main dish items while sweet flower dukkah can be sprinkled over dessert or crowning your favorite yogurt or hot cereal, at the start of the day. Be daring and use it on a savory dish. It’s packed with protein and antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. I love adding dried edible flowers to this dukkah as they add a pop of color. This is the thing I will be bringing with me everywhere this summer. Make a double recipe and keep some on hand for a last minute gift.

Strawberry and rhubarb make the perfect marriage of flavors, the juicy sweet meets the tart. Add on a crumbly topping and you have yourself the perfect summer dessert.

I am in love with the color of this smoothie, a soft pink brightened with a pop of fuchsia. It simply appeals to the eyes and stomach and should have a small sign near the glass, reading “drink me.” And on top of it, this protein packed smoothie is full of the fruity and bright flavors of strawberries, pineapple, and pink pitaya dragon fruit. All three fruit are rich in vitamin C and high in fiber.

The direct translation of “panna cotta” from Italian to English is cooked cream. This recipe, however, my dear friends is vegan, made with coconut milk. I love using coconut milk to give dishes that creamy and fatty mouth feel, it is a staple in my kitchen for soups, sauces, curries, ice cream and in Matcha Tapioca Pudding, you can find HERE.

According to folklore, if two people cut and share a strawberry, they will fall in love. The strawberry was known to be the fruit of love and fertility long before the idea of Valentine’s Day was conceived. Either way, I will admit, I love strawberries. When in season, and the season is now, this bust and beautiful red berry is sweet, firm, and tender all at once. Wild strawberries are aromatic in nose and in flavor and cultivated, organic strawberries are juicy, luscious, and delightfully sugared.

These warming, comforting, and health-giving baked apples have been my go-to breakfast and snack for these last days of winter. They are so simple to make and have no added sugar. This recipe is an Ayurvedic recipe, so it is balancing for all three Doshas or constitutional types of Ayurveda, Pitta, Vata, and Kapha.

Preserved lemon is typically found in Moroccan tagines and in Ayurvedic cuisine as a remedy for stomach issues and goes as far back to 18th century England. Adding preserved lemons to a recipe is like adding a pop of color to your finished dish, chopped up pieces of the lemon rind will add such a nice flare to salad dressing, soups, pesto, sauces, baked chicken, or fish dishes and beyond. I love adding small pieces of preserved lemon to many savory recipes for that special umami surprise when one would not expect it.

Recently, I completed a 10-day winter reset using Macrobiotic and Ayurvedic principles in the food I prepared, and my husband and I ate.

In Macrobiotics, founded by George Osawa, one of the main principles is to be in harmony with nature. Also, what is emphasized is an acid, alkaline balance as well as the selection of foods which are considered anti-inflammatory, organic, and locally sourced when possible and based on combining healthy traditional food, including fresh vegetables, whole grains or their products, beans, fruit, nuts, seeds, pickles, fermented foods, herbs, seasonings, sea vegetables, and teas.

A version of these cookies was first featured in my Chronicle Books 2009 book I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas. They were super tasty but full of gluten and sugar. Here in the Amalgam Kitchen, we decided to turn the recipe on it’s head and make them not only Paleo but almond free, I explained in my last post, I recently became aware I am allergic to almonds. We developed this new version with my ultimate grain-free baker’s blend and added some dried cranberries and boy, am I telling you, we have a winner here. It’s half way between a short bread and a chewy cookie and packed with sweetness from the cranberries and crunch from the walnuts with a distinct maple over tone. This cookie is a must add to your holiday baking and dare I say it should stick around until winter’s end, guilt free.

I recently took a blood food sensitivity and allergy test (the Dunwoody) at my doctor. Here is an at home version, if you are feeling like you need to know about your potential food allergies. I sadly learned I was allergic or had a high sensitivity to some of my most favorite foods. Coming in first place was almonds, the precious nut I (seriously) eat every day of my life in some form or another. Almond milk, almond pasta, almond bread, almond creamer, almond crackers, you get the picture.

Labne (Labneh) is a Middle Eastern strained dairy yogurt, having removed most of the whey, the yogurt cheese has a thicker and richer consistency, similar to the tangy taste of sour cream. It is super easy to make and goes well as a topping, side or appetizer with so many things. What’s more, this recipe is dairy-free, made from coconut yogurt which is full of probiotics and healthy fats. It couldn’t be more simple, requiring only 4 ingredients.

Fall brings cooler, crisper weather and shorter days as well as a beautiful host of seasonal fruits including pears, apples, pomegranates and my favorite, persimmons. This bread uses Hachiya persimmon, which are great for baking because as they ripen, their flesh turns very soft and purée-like, which is great for incorporating sweetness and adding a rich darker color to your bread batter. Dates and walnuts are perfect companions to the persimmon in this delightful fall quick bread, perfecting suited for with an afternoon cup of tea.

The sumptuous, sweet, luscious sensuous fig is at the height of it’s glory at this moment. But blink and the season will be gone. This smoothie is sweet but not too sweet, creamy, and packed with plant protein from Mikuna, made from the the low-lectin, regenerative crop Choco and is only one ingredient. It is truly one of my favorite protein powders.