Ingredients:

• Cauliflower or broccoli, 1 head (about 4 cups) (alternatively, use a combination of the two)
• Kale or spinach, 1 bunch (about 1.5 cups)
• Cheese, 200 grams (about 2 cups), grated (cheddar, Manchego, Pecorino, Parmesan, or other)
• Eggs, 6 large or 8 medium, (with the yolks separated from the whites)
• Milk , 1 cup (coconut, almond, or other)
• Arrowroot powder, 3 tablespoons
• Flour, 3 tablespoons plus 1 tbsp for greasing the baking dish (try quinoa, almond, coconut, or cassava)
• Ghee, butter or coconut oil (4 tablespoons = ¼ cup)
• Salt and pepper (and/or any other condiments of your choice)

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚F/180˚C.

Wash the kale (or spinach) and cut out the large central stems. Chop very finely and steam briefly.

Wash the cauliflower and/or broccoli and cut them into small florets. Steam them without overcooking, and then remove promptly from the steamer. After it cools down, squeeze well all the excess liquid, a handful at a time, over the sink. Chop into smaller pieces, especially the stems.

Warm up 3 tablespoons of the oil in a pan on low heat. Stir and dissolve 3 tablespoons of arrowroot powder into 1 cup of cold milk. Pour the milk mixture to the oil pan and add the seasonings. Stir continually for about 10 minutes. As it starts to thicken, stir in the grated cheese as well as the steamed and chopped veggies. Pull it aside, and let it cool down.

Stir 3 tablespoons of flour in the egg yolks. After the white sauce cools off, add the egg yolks.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form; then fold into the rest of the composition.

Note: This step should not be done in advance because the whites must be freshly beaten when added, and the rest of the mixture should be almost cold.

Use the last tablespoon of butter or oil to grease a shallow baking dish, and then dust it with flour. Pour the soufflé mixture in the dish and bake it in the preheated oven for about 90 minutes.

Cut it into small portions, and store it covered in the refrigerator.

It can be eaten warm right after baking,
but it is best enjoyed cold as an appetizer or as a healthy savoury snack.

The post Cheese’n Veggies Soufflé appeared first on Northshore Naturopathic Clinic.

Ingredients:

For the broth: 1 lb organic soup bones (grass-fed beef or pasture-raised chicken), 1 onion,   1 carrot,  1 parsnip, 1 celeriac, dill, parsley

For the soup: 2 onions, 2-3 carrots, 2 parsnips, 4 celery sticks, 2 garlic cloves, 2 small red potatoes (or squash), 1 red bell pepper, 2 tomatoes, 1-2 limes or lemon, dill, parsley, salt, black pepper

For the meat dumplings: 1 lb. organic grass-fed ground beef or chicken, 1 onion, ½ cup rice (or quinoa), 1 egg, 1 tbsp almond flour, dill, salt, cayenne or black pepper

Note: Making your own broth is what Grandma would have done, and it’s more nutritious than the store-bought broth. But if you absolutely need to buy a soup broth, choose high-quality, organic, low sodium.

To make “Grandma’s” broth, use organic, grass-fed beef soup bones (or organic chicken). Cover them with cold water and add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Store it in the fridge for 2 hours (or overnight) to help release more beneficial minerals. After the 2 hours have passed (or the next day), add the roughly chopped vegetables: 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 parsnip, 1 celeriac. Add enough cold water to cover the bones and veggies, then add some salt, dill, and parsley for flavour. Simmer covered for minimum 2 hours (or pressure-cook), then let the broth cool. Note: A stainless steel pressure cooker is a great for making the broth, as it retains more vitamins, reduces cooking time to under an hour, and limits water evaporation.

To make “Grandma’s” Soup: Using a colander or a sieve, strain the broth into a large soup pot, add 1 or 2 litres of water, and set the heat to medium.

Sauté 2 finely chopped onions in a pan with 2 tbsps. of butter (or coconut oil) and 2 tbsps. of water. Keep the temperature low and the pan covered. Stir frequently and add more water as it evaporates. The onion will be translucent and softened after a few minutes. In the meantime, finely chop the carrots, parsnips, celery sticks, the red bell pepper, and the garlic, and add them to the pan. (A shredder can speed up the preparation.) Cook them for a few more minutes covered, stir frequently, and add more water if needed. When lightly softened, add them over the hot broth.

Peel the potatoes or the squash, cut in bite-sized cubes, and add them to the pot. Then chop and add the tomatoes, too.
If you happen to have some, a handful of chopped green beans, some broccoli or cauliflower florets can be added as well. Adjust for taste with salt and pepper.

To make the meatballs: Mix the ground meat with 1 finely chopped onion, 1 beaten egg, finely chopped dill, 1 tbsp. of flour, and ½ cup of rice or quinoa. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and make sure the soup is not boiling at this point, to prevent damaging the shape of the dumplings when you add them to the soup. Using 2 spoons, form small dumplings and drop them gently in the soup one by one.

After all the dumplings are added to the soup, increase the temperature to medium. Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring a couple of times.

Finely chop the dill and the parsley and squeeze the lime juice. Add them last to the soup and then turn off the heat.  Leave it covered with a lid for a couple of minutes, and then cool it down fast in the sink, immersed in cold water.

Refrigerate as soon as possible, and even freeze a few portions for later use.

Enjoy Grandma’s lovely and nutritious soup!

… And if you want the real, European, traditional experience, then you may want to add a teaspoon of sour cream in your bowl of soup before you eat it.

Note: To lower the soup’s starch content and lower its glycemic load, use squash or zucchini instead of potatoes, and quinoa instead of the rice for the meatballs.

The post Grandma’s Veggie Soup with Meat Dumplings (Ciorbă de perişoare) appeared first on Northshore Naturopathic Clinic.

• 1 part elder flower (not berry)
• 1 part yarrow
• 1 part lemon balm
• ¼ part ginger

One way to make this tea is to boil the ginger alone first for 5-10 minutes then use the boiled ginger water as the liquid to steep the other herbs in. Make sure the herbal combination is covered as it steeps for 10 minutes or so. Sip slowly and feel its warming action.

This is a very heating tea and might cause a bit of sweating (diaphoretic action) but will keep you warm if you have the chills. Its phenolic content can help fight viral infections and keep you comfy on those chilly fall and winter nights.

The post A traditional herbal tea combination for colds & flu appeared first on Northshore Naturopathic Clinic.

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Anda Bosnea, CNP, RNCP/ROHP

Making your own broth is what Grandma would have done. It is much more nutritious than the store-bought broth. It can be used as a base for any soup or stew, or for stir-frying veggies as it protects their vitamins and enzymes during cooking. Its health and nutritional benefits have been proven by both traditional usage and modern science.

It’s very important for the bones to be sourced from grass-fed, grass-finished and organic beef or chicken, or from wild fish, because their natural diets will translate into a high content of minerals like calcium and magnesium and many other nutrients. This high quality will result in an alkalizing broth with anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and immune-boosting properties. It will improve digestion and intestinal healing and also support bone and joint health. It is even beneficial for hair, nails and skin.

Making bone broth is not only healthy, but also cost-effective and time-saving since it stores well and it can be frozen for later use.

A pressure cooker is the best choice for making the broth, as it extracts more nutrients, reduces cooking time to an hour or two, and eliminates water evaporation during boiling.

To make “Grandma’s” broth, use organic, grass-fed beef soup-bones. Cover them with cold water and add 2 or 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Store in the fridge for a couple of hours (or overnight) to help release more of their structural minerals into the water.

When ready to start the cooking, add to the pot some roughly chopped vegetables: 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 parsnip, as well as 1 celeriac or celery root. You can also add leftover parts or stems from other veggies (like the broccoli and kale stems in these pictures), and a little salt.

Add enough cold water to cover the bones and veggies. Cook in a pressure cooker or simmer covered in a stock pot for a couple of hours or as long as you like, then let the broth cool. Using a colander or a sieve, strain the broth and use as a base for any soup or stew, or freeze in smaller containers for later use.

The post “Grandma’s” Bone Broth appeared first on Northshore Naturopathic Clinic.

Here’s one option that you can try; cauliflower rice is a mock rice recipe that is satisfying and offers a grain-like alternative to the real thing.

You can try is raw or cooked. Here’s how:

Ingredients:
(Makes 6 servings)

1 head cauliflower, medium sized
1 tbsp grapeseed oil or butter, optional
1 lime, juiced and zested
½ cup cilantro, fine chopped
Salt, optional
Cut the head of cauliflower into quarters and then trim out the inner core from each quarter. Compost the inner core and break the rest into large florets.

Put the cauliflower florets into a food processor. Processing in two batches, if necessary, making sure processor is not more than ¾ full at a time. Pulse in 1-second intervals until the cauliflower has broken down into rice-sized pieces.

If large pieces remain, remove them, transfer cauliflower to another container and then reprocess the large pieces separately before mixing back in with the “rice”.

At this point you can choose to add the lime juice and cilantro and serve/eat raw if you like as a side dish or tossed onto a salad.

Otherwise, heat grapeseed oil or butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the “rice” with a generous twist of sea salt. Cover the skillet and cook for 5-8 minutes, until the “rice” is tender or cooked to your preference.

Once cooked, remove from heat, toss with lime and cilantro, and serve.

The post Cilantro and Lime Cauliflower “Rice” appeared first on Northshore Naturopathic Clinic.

By March or April, everybody feels tired, stressed, and has allergies. There is a simple explanation: fall and winter’s cold and dampness asked for warming and grounding comfort food. During the cold seasons, most cultures eat traditional diets high in animal protein and fat, mostly preserved vegetables, as well as (too) many grains and cereals. Unfortunately, by spring, our organism becomes deficient in many nutrients and we become weak, immune-deficient, and slightly depressed. With the transition to the warmer weather, blooming flowers, and the spring equinox time change, our bodies need all the help they can get.

Mother Nature brings to life, as it always did, a blessing of fresh green shoots which provide a bounty of valuable vitamins and minerals that reduces allergies and boost the immunity. Traditional spring cleanses (some even correlated with religious practices like the fasting before Easter) encourage mainly vegetarian recipes that include all sorts of greens: from the common dandelion, lettuce, kale and collard greens, to the less known stinging nettle.

Stinging nettles have a long history of use all over the world. Eastern Europeans always foraged and cooked stinging nettles in early spring, after the snow melt away. Native Americans used them as a revitalizing tonic. Spring Stinging Nettles are rich in Iron, Calcium, and Vitamins A and K. Their rich phytonutrient content gives them anti-inflammatory properties. They also promote detoxification and optimize adrenal function. And their quercetin content naturally inhibits the body’s production of histamines and reduces allergies.

Also typical for spring, green garlic and green onions are rich in vitamins A and C, quercetin and other flavonoids that act as natural antihistamines.
They enrich the taste and the nutritional makeup of many dishes, and contribute to reducing seasonal allergic response and inflammation.

Here is a traditional spring recipe that includes both spring stinging nettles and green garlic.

And if you don’t want to forage for them yourselves, you can find both side by side on a weekend morning trip to a local Farmers Market.
(Nettles must be picked before flowering begins.)

Wash the spring nettles thoroughly, using a pair (or two) of very good quality rubber gloves against their “stinging” quality. Don’t take off the gloves too soon; chop and discard the thicker stems and transfer the nettles to a pot. Only now it’s safe to take off the gloves. Add a cup of water and cover with a lid.

Boil on low for about half an hour stirring frequently and pushing the nettles down into the water. They will reduce in volume during cooking. Add a bit more water if it’s lost through evaporation.

In the meantime, chop the green garlic finely and cook it for a minute on low heat in a bit of butter, covered with a lid.

For a richer taste, you can add some green onions, especially if you plan to serve it with a starch (like corn grits or rice).

After the nettles are cooked, strain the mineral-rich cooking liquid over the garlic and add some arrowroot flour to thicken.

Let the cooked nettles cool, then chop them, add them over the rest of the ingredients, and cook for just a few minutes, allowing the aromas to meet and greet.

Use your choice of spices.
I personally prefer just a bit of salt and a squeeze of lemon.

It can be served warm as a side dish or cold as a dip.
The chopped cooked nettles can also be incorporated in a pilaf or a stew; or use your imagination and your own taste. And stay healthy with Mother Nature’s seasonal blessings!

The post Spring Stinging Nettle | Benefits & Recipe appeared first on Northshore Naturopathic Clinic.

Three notable nuggets of this seemingly simple stem are:

• High source of saponins: this phytonutrient has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and also helps prevent cancer and reduce its proliferation or growth. It is also associated with improving: blood pressure, blood sugar and blood fat levels.
• High source of inulin: this is a “prebiotic” – a carbohydrate that doesn’t get broken down until it reaches the large intestine. This is the end of the gastrointestinal digestive tract. Once it gets there it becomes food for beneficial bacteria so that it can multiply, helping to improve nutrient absorption, the prevention of developing food sensitivities, and lowering the risk of colon cancer.
• Excellent source of glutathione: this is your liver’s main anti-oxidant. If you’ve read any of Dr. Matsen’s books, you are well aware of the importance of your liver to your overall health. Your liver is busy – doing over 200 tasks at any given time – including the utmost important role of detoxification. In other words, glutathione is needed for your liver to tag and properly discard all of the toxins that your body comes in to contact with such as pesticides, herbicides, fumes, chemicals, etc.

That said, there is one key thing that you need to know so that you can actually reap all of these benefits: you must eat it while it’s fresh! It has what we call a really high “respiration rate” meaning that it’s nutrient load diminishes a lot quicker than other vegetables after being harvested. To access all of it’s amazing qualities you don’t want to leave it in your fridge for a week but rather eat it soon after it’s been picked or purchased. To help keep it fresh, place a damp paper towel at the base of the stems to help reduce its respiration rate and preserve its vitality for longer.

30 mins of your time for 6 servings

• ¼ cup red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 lbs of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1” pieces
• 3 tbsp organic butter or grapeseed oil
• 2 ½ cup of fresh peas (less if still in pods)
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• ¾ cup of basil leaves, torn
• optional: fresh cracked pepper

Mince garlic and set aside. Cook red onion in butter or grapeseed oil in a medium sized heavy skillet. Stir frequently for 4 minutes. Add asparagus, peas, and sea salt. Cover skillet and cook for 4 minutes then add garlic, stir, and recover for an additional 4 minutes. Stir in basil, add additional sea salt and pepper to taste if you desire.

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Rinse beets and boil in a pot for approximately 30 minutes or until tender. Once tender, remove from pot, and cube the beets (peel first if desired). Set aside. In a separate pot, cook the carrots and parsnips until tender, approximately 5 minutes. While cooking place finely sliced kale into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil, a couple of twists of sea salt and juice of ½ a lemon. Use your hands to massage kale until it becomes soft and wilted. When carrots and parsnip are done, drain and set aside. Combine the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil, garlic, parsley, vinegar, apple juice, mustard and sea salt and pepper to taste in a blender and process into a dressing. Combine kale with the carrots and parsnip and drizzle with dressing. In their separate bowl, add dressing to beets as well. Toss ingredients in bowls to evenly coat vegetables and combine the beets with the other ingredients just prior to serving.

The post Root Veg Salad with Kale appeared first on Northshore Naturopathic Clinic.

I’m not giving you a recipe for this one.  I’m giving you a guide.I eat this all the time – it gives me a great magnesium fix!  I never measure and always just wing-it.  I have faith that you can wing-it too.

However, because I don’t measure, this always tastes a little different – which I like.  Someday I’ll take the time to write out a more precise recipe, until then, here you go:

You’ll need:

• Organic, fair trade cocoa (believe me, the quality makes a huge difference in the flavor too)
• Almond milk (or whatever is your preference)
• Pure vanilla
• Real ground cinnamon (watch out for all the cinnamon imposters out there!)
• Nut butter or avocado (ie: one healthy yummy fat source)
• Raw, unpasteurized local honey or maple syrup (you can also use date paste or blended raspberries as sweetener as a substitute)
• Sea salt

Optional:

• Hemp seeds
• Berries
• Or whatever else inspires you

Put 1.5 tbsp of cocoa powder into a bowl.  Add a small splash (start with 1 tbsp) of almond milk, around ½ tsp of vanilla, a dollop of nut butter or avocado, a smidgen (approx. 1—2 tsp) of honey or your substitute of choice, 2 shakes of cinnamon, and a twist of ground sea salt.   Now mix.  It takes a few moments for the cocoa powder to mix with the wet ingredients and if it’s really thick add a splash of almond milk.  Stir vigorously, adding additional almond milk if needed until preferred consistency has been reached. It will be a rich, dark, chocolate pudding at the end.  And berries and hemp seeds on top if desired.

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