Recipe: Green Apple Dressing

This salad dressing is truly refreshing! The tangy sweetness of the apple is complemented nicely by the zip of the ginger and contrasted by the garlic. It's really nice on a leafy green salad with some avocado, pear, and walnut. I adapted this recipe from one of my favourite whole food recipe blogs, Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. Full of antioxidants and essential heart friendly fats, it also has the benefit of giving a boost to your immune system with the antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal properties of the garlic. Ginger is excellent for digestion. And a unique aspect to this dressing is that it actually provides FIBRE. Most salad dressing is virtually 100% fat, but this dressing contains the fibre of the apple, which is excellent for immune, digestive, cardiovascular, and colon health!

That being said, I want to prepare you - because it uses the full apple, the consistency is less smooth and creamy than you're used to in a salad dressing. I made it with my hand-held blender, but you may find it comes out more dressing like if you whip it up in a food processor or blender. Either way the flavour pops and livens up your usual salad.

Recipe:
1 green apple
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup filtered water
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3-4 cloves garlic
1-2 inches fresh ginger, peeled
Herbamare, or sea salt, to taste

Just blend it all up and enjoy!

Recipe: Roasted Mushroom & Garlic Soup

Garlic has antibacterial properties, and helps support the liver with it's detox functions, and is proven to relax blood vessel walls, contributing to cardiovascular health. Mushrooms boost the immune system and have anti-cancer properties! They are also exceptionally high in selenium, a potent antioxidant mineral. This soup is perfect for a cold winter's lunch with a dark leafy green salad (try some new greens like delicate dandelion which is also excellent for supporting the liver and stimulating healthy digestion) and a small chunk of good whole grain bread.

Ingredients

2 heads garlic
3 tsp olive oil, divided
2 cups each of cremini and white mushrooms, quartered
2 cups shitake mushrooms, stems removed
2 cups portobello mushrooms, stems removed, cut into 1 inch chunks
4 tsp fresh thyme, chopped, divided
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, ends trimmed and diced
6 cups low-sodium organic chicken or vegetable stock
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup greek style yogurt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F to roast garlic and mushrooms
2. To roast garlic, slice about 1/4 inch off the top of both heads of garlic to expose cloves. Drizzle 1/2 tsp oil onto exposed cloves and wrap each head in foil. Place wrapped garlic heads onto a tray and roast in oven for about 40 minutes or until garlic is light golden brown and very soft when gently squeezed. Leave oven on and set at 400 F. Allow garlic to cool slightly and then gently squeeze into a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, toss all mushrooms with 1.5 tsp oil and 1 tsp thyme and season with salt & pepper. Place mushroom mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet and roast, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until tender and golden. Reserve 12 pieces of roasted mushroom for garnish.
4. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, zucchini, and 1 tsp thyme to pan and saute until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add roasted mushrooms, garlic and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Puree soup with a hand blender until smooth. Season with lemon juice, remaining thyme, salt and pepper. Divide soup among 4 bowls and serve each with a dollop of yogurt and 3 reserved roasted mushrooms. Serve immediately.

Recipe courtesy Clean Eating magazine, Sept/Oct 2009