Socca with Dijon & Fresh Vegetables

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Socca, in my opinion, is one of
the best kept little secret gems in the world of gluten free cooking and
healthier options. Socca is a street food from the South of France, that is
so simple to make it is almost mind blowing, consisting of just chickpea
flour, olive oil, water, and seasoning. It makes a healthy crepe for
breakfast, lunch, or a light dinner, or it can be made a little thicker, and
cooked longer for a pizza crust or flatbread effect. The trick is in not
trying to flip it over, but instead, letting it cook through from one
side.

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Do Multivitamins Work?

do multivitamins work?
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Do multivitamins work? Are
multivitamins just a waste of money? This is an ongoing question, and the
answers seem to change with the ebb and flow of supplement and wellness
marketing trends. I have broken down some of the basic questions around multivitamins
that I receive, and provided information to help make more informed decisions
when choosing whether or not to take them.

Are Multivitamins Necessary?

It depends on who you ask. The nutritional supplement industry,
with it’s roughly $60-billion in US sales alone, will respond with a
resounding “yes!” However, if you start asking the experts, you
might find a different answer. More and more doctors are acknowledging that
extracting (a.k.a. isolating) a single nutrient or vitamin and putting it
into a pill may not be the best way to deliver the nutrition to our bodies.
 “We believe
that the case is closed — supplementing the diet of well-nourished adults
with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might
even be harmful,” concluded the authors of an
editorial summarizing the new research papers, published Dec. 16, 2013
in the Annals of Internal Medicine. “These vitamins should not be used for
chronic disease prevention. Enough is enough.” They went on to urge consumers
to not “waste” their money on multivitamins. Further research on this subject
revealed to me many doctors and experts making similar
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“Creamy” Cauliflower Soup with Truffle Tomato Salsa

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Nothing completes a crisp autumn
or rainy day like a bowl of creamy soup. I am pretty sure that there isn’t a
person out there who doesn’t have a nostalgic attachment to a “cream of
something” soup from their past or childhood. Well I have some good news
about that! You can keep your creamy, comforting stroll down memory lane
while also avoiding the bad and promoting awesome, clean nutrition. This soup
is very easy to make and is also great as a cold vichyssoise style
soup if you have leftovers. The salsa is a tangy compliment that offers extra
rich flavor in the truffle oil, but also completely optional.
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Heirloom Tomato and Pumpkinseed Pesto Salad

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If you raise basil on a regular
basis, you will encounter those times when you get busy and kind of ignore
the basil for a few days, and while you are busy doing other stuff, the basil
goes nuts and produces an abundance of flower stalks and leaves. This
happened to me the other day and in my rush to prune it all back, I ended up
with a giant pile of basil. So, since autumn is just around the corner, I
decided to do a variation of pesto using raw pepitas (pumpkinseeds). There
is something about the pumpkinseeds’ earthiness and association with the
impending fall season that just made it all seem right.

I am still getting some glorious heirloom tomatoes, although that
season is nearly over, so I put together this sort of “summer-fall”
transitional salad that is vegan, yet packed with high quality, raw protein
and healthy fats. This vegan pesto is very versatile and I have been using it
in a variety of ways beyond this salad. This recipe is definitely a keeper
and a healthier alternative to traditional pesto.

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