Brain Food Salad Dressing

Flaxseed oil is my jam. It’s one of my top recommendations to clients.  Its chock full of brain healthy, inflammation reducing omega 3 fatty acid. But the best part is its one of the cleanest sources of omega3s.  Although I love the taste, I get that some of my clients can’t stand it.  Here’s a simple and delicious salad dressing recipe that will give you your flax seed oil while also masking the flax seed oil taste.  

Its a simple dressing you can use liberally on any salad.  I love it with a good chopped salad. It tastes fresh and light.  I chop whatever raw veggies (or roasted) I have in my fridge and mix in this dressing.  Goes well with romaine, tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, black olives.  Or use whatever you've currently got going on.  Its as versatile as whatever you got in your fridge.  Its so simple and easy!  But the best part is you're lowering your body's inflammation and improving your brain health.  Its a win-win!

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons flaxseed oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1.5 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Method:

Mix ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix dressing onto salad of choice.  Enjoy!

5 Min Bowl of Anti-Inflammation

It's faster than fast food and will make a nutritional superhero out of you!

Think of this as the new fast food.  If you're like me, when you get hungry you want to eat and don't really want to spend time thinking about what and how.  What if you could make something in less than the time it takes to tie your shoelaces and it gave your body superhero power? Its not very far-fetched.  

Read The Nutritional Low Down below for all the ways this Fast Lunch will give you a superhero edge!

 

Ingredients:

The amounts of each of these ingredients are up to you.  Its all good for you, so use as much as your hungry for.  Its a foolproof recipe after all, so there are no rules!

*If you're questioning the use of canned beans, fear not! Canned beans are a nutritious way to provide cheap and fast beans. If you buy organic and BPA-free cans, which are becoming more prevalent, then you're fine.  

What about rinsing the beans? You actually don't need to. The liquid contains so many good for you minerals, you don't even need to drain and rinse it.  

Beans cause you digestive issues like flatulence? Not to worry. Canned beans make it easier for you to digest.  So no more flatulence and no more sitting around waiting for the beans to cook!

• Organic and BPA-free can* of lentils
• Organic spinach
• Optional: Any desired herbs 
• Organic flax seed oil 
• Himalayan salt 

Method:

1. Open a can of Bpa-free organic lentils (i know, very challenging) and put desired amount in a bowl.
2. Water sauté organic spinach or leave them raw and washed, then add to lentils. If you're feeling spunky you can add garlic or whatever herbs you have on hand. 
3. Since your lentils are cold, you can add flax seed oil.  Flax seed oil will get denatured if exposed to any sort of heat or light. Which makes it great for this recipe as your lentils are cold. 
4. OPTIONAL: You can lightly heat your lentils with your spinach, it will still only take you 5 minutes, but then skip the flax seed oil.  Try olive oil instead or no oil at all. 
5. Top with a bit of himalayan salt. 
6. CHOW DOWN

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The Nutritional Low Down

Lentils are a nutritional beast of a legume. Lentils come stocked with loads of fiber and protein for a very low amount of calories. 

The soluble fiber in lentils helps to keep you regular, detoxifies your body, lowers cholesterol, reduces the risk of heart disease, stabilizes blood sugar, and can keep you lean! 

Spinach is a leader in the leafy green category.  It's of the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat.  Meaning per bite of spinach you're getting more nutrients than almost any other food on the planet!

Spinach has phytonutrients and antioxidants that provide anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits. Check this out: These spinach extracts have been shown to slow down cell division in human stomach cancer cells (gastric adenocarcinomas), and in studies on laboratory animals, to reduce skin cancers (skin papillomas). A study on adult women living in New England in the late 1980s also showed intake of spinach to be inversely related to incidence of breast cancer.

Lentils & Spinach are a great plant based source of iron and folate.  Of the many things that your body needs iron for, did you know that iron deficiency could be what's causing your dark under eye circles?  Iron deficiency also causes a lack of energy.  So eat up!

Flaxseed oil is an amazing source of Omega-3 fatty acid which your body is in dire need of.  Omega-3 goes into your body and helps repair inflammation.  This anti-inflammatory property helps prevent chronic diseases like heart disease and arthritis. 

Flaxseed oil also has a 4:1 ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids.  Your body needs to be consuming more Omega 3 than Omega 6 for a good balance. The typical American diet tends to contain 14 to 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. Many researchers believe this is a significant factor in the rising rate of inflammatory disorders in the United States.

Additionally, Flaxseed oil helps prevents depression and supports good brain health. Who here doesn't want to be happier and smarter?

xx, 

Your Resident Beetmaker, Shaina Simhaee

Green Pesto Low-carb Noodles

Here’s a recipe for an amazing summer salad that take all of 6 minutes.  

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 zucchinis 
• Handful of basil
• two tablespoons pine nuts
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• teaspoon himalayan salt
• a few chopped sundried or fresh cherry tomatoes
• optional: sprinkling of parmesan cheese

METHOD:

1. Using a spirilizer, create noodles out of zucchinis.  If you don’t have a spirilizer, you can use a veggie peeler or grater and create thin strips. (but seriously, buy a spirilizer!)

2. Blend basil, pine nuts, olive oil, and salt

3. Toss zucchini with pesto dressing and add chopped sundried or cherry tomatoes

4. Serve. 

THE LOW DOWN:

The glory of this recipe is that it takes all of 6 minutes.  But here's the thing, most people just have pine nuts lying around.  They're an expensive nut and unless you're making pesto all the time, or tossing them in your salad its an easy thing to not have lying around.  So here's a list of alternatives to what's listed.  Get creative with your spin on pesto.  Use up the stuff in your fridge or try something new!

• Instead of pine nuts, brazil nuts work really well! And they are full of selenium which counteracts mercury (for those of you that eat fish), you may also try cashews and walnuts.
• In addition to the olive oil, or in place of it, use half an avocado.  If you are skipping the oil, use a bit of water so that it will blend. 
• Traditional pesto calls for basil, but you can totally add tarragon or spinach for a twist on it. 
• Garlic. If you are a garlic lover and need garlic in everything. Then you must add a clove or two to this.  Just note that Its going to be raw and therefore very sharp tasting garlic, so adjust to your tastebuds or use a few teaspoons of garlic powder.  Garlic powder is not as nutritionally optimal as fresh garlic, but a great deal easier to chew on. 

Protein Pumped Pasta

No-brainer recipe for consuming tons of protein and fiber in a tasty non-fattening, low-carb way. 

THE LOW DOWN:

I've never met a person who doesn't enjoy a bit of oil in their sautéed veggies.  However, rather than sautéing the onions in oil, saute them in water.  Save the really good for you, omega-3 flaxseed oil to top the pasta instead of using oil to cook with.  

The cool thing is that it will taste just as if you've sautéed the dish in oil, except this way you are getting the brain strengthening Omega 3s that would get denatured by the heat. 

Here's the other trick in this recipe.  The pasta is made entirely of beans! Which means its not only gluten free, but it has protein and fiber. Traditional pasta has virtually no fiber, which means that the carbs will spike your blood sugar and then dramatically lower them after they digest.  Think of it as pure sugar, your body sees almost no difference, and neither will your waist line!

INGREDIENTS:

• Pasta made from beans.  I used Tolerant brand because the only ingredient was red lentils.
• 1 can of organic lentils in a bpa free can
• 1 can of organic roasted tomatoes in a bpa free can
• half chopped onion
• couple tablespoons fresh organic cold pressed flaxseed oil
• Himalayan salt
• Fresh garlic or tons of garlic powder
• Chipotle powder to taste
• Handful of Asparagus and broccoli or whatever veggies you have in the fridge
• handful of Kale or spinach

METHOD:

1. Boil pasta
2. In a separate pan, saute onions with a few tablespoons water
3. Add all the other veggies to the pan along with spices
4. Combine cooked pasta with veggie dish and allow to cool for a couple minutes.  When its not piping hot, top with flaxseed oil and a bit of himalayan salt
5. Eat it.