July Fourth Recipe Roundup

photo by rr_rocketman on flickr.com

Just in case any of you are looking for more recipes for your July Fourth celebrations, here are some wonderful dishes from several of my favorite food bloggers:

I must confess, since it's summer and the hot weather has finally set in, I've been doing a lot of raw eating, that's what inspired me to add the lovely recipe above from Brigitte Mars.  On really hot days, I make a raw blender salad with greens from my garden, avocado and nuts.  I'm loving eating this way while the weather is warm and my digestive fires are high.

I hope you all have a lovely Fourth of July and enjoy the weekend!

Fourth of July Barbecue

I've had several people request Fourth of July picnic and barbecue menus from me in the last week.  Here's a simple assortment of easy dishes that you can make for a fun fourth.

Gluten Free Fourth of July Menu
Iced Tea
Crudite with Sesame Dip
Mixed greens with Green Goddess Dressing
Simple Fruit Salad
Hot Dogs
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free Dairy Free)

I still haven't quite decided what we'll be doing for our Fourth of July festivities, though with the boys at prime fireworks viewing age, I know it will involve hiking up a mountain and settling in to watch the light shows around the Boulder Valley.

Happy July 4th everyone!

Raw Kale Shiitake Salad

The other night I went to a fabulous event in Boulder hosted by Bauman College. During this evening one of the graduates from Bauman's chef program did a great cooking demo for a raw kale salad with shiitake mushrooms (it had a number of other ingredients as well).

The next day, I was determined to make my a version of my own. Before that evening, I had not thought of eating raw mushrooms, however, after tasting the Bauman salad, I was sold. So, I picked kale from our garden in the blistering heat --it's growing so wildly I am having a challenging time keeping up with it-- and began to concoct the dish above.

The evening with Bauman was filled with good food and information and I was very impressed with both the College and Dr. Bauman. He discussed food politics in America and so much more. His philosophy that "one size does not fit all" when it comes to eating is something with which I heartily agree.

Bauman College has an army of nutritionists, teachers and advisers and teaches classes in California (3 schools there), Boulder and also remotely. They also provide consultations with nutritionists and nutrition educators to people all over the world.

Recently, I've had quite a few people asking me for personalized dietary advice and consultations. This isn't something I would feel comfortable doing over the internet. I can however, recommend the services of the people over at Bauman College. They are a highly qualified and sensitive group of people and I hope to be teaching community classes there in the near future.

The Great Agave Debate

"Why do you use agave? I've heard that it's very unhealthy"  I'm asked this question about my "go to" sweetener on at least a daily basis.

First off, there really is no perfect sweetener, so I recommend everything in moderation.

We often take sugar and other sweeteners for granted, forgetting that they were not widely available to humans until the modern era (excluding of course, those living in the tropical regions feasting on mangoes and pineapple). Processed sugar was invented between the Medieval Period and the Enlightenment (more than 500 years ago), it became more widely available during the 1400 and 1500's. By 1750 (with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the invention of sugar mills) sugar became wildly popular.

So if we really think about it, up until a couple of hundred years ago, the majority of the human race (at least those living in colder climes) only experienced the taste of sweetness by eating fruit when it was in season (or when nursing, of course). The fruit that was eaten was not the overly ripe, super sweet fruit that is bred today. Think of wild blueberries --they are tiny and tart. The fruit we eat today has been cultivated for its juicy, sweet flavor.

I think the spike in diabetes and other diseases we have seen during the past decades may partially be due to the fact that humans are not accustomed to eating large quantities of sugar and are not able to efficiently metabolize this substance.

Sugar is sugar. Agave is sugar. An apple is sugar with some good vitamins, minerals and fiber. Basically, many of us (especially those with celiac) would be prudent to monitor our intake of sugar in any form (celiac and diabetes ride on the same HLA gene, so the presence of one increases the likelihood of the other).

While I do use agave in my dessert recipes, I am very cautious about my overall intake of this (and all other sweet substances) because I find that unfortunately, I am one of those whose body rebels against too much sugar. Of course, my husband and children can eat a lot more of this substance than I do and still feel great. That's what keeps me baking like a fiend. They want their treats and they do just fine with them.

For those of you that are now on the anti-agave bandwagon, I have come up with this date sweetened recipe.  Of course, I will still be using agave because I feel ok when I consume it in very small amounts.

These tasty gluten-free, Paleo (I think) muffins do not contain agave for all of the agave-phobes out there.  I will be creating some desserts with alternative sweeteners just to spice things up (plus, I like a good challenge every now and then).  However, I will still be using agave for some recipes.

In terms of the great agave debate, I want you all to know that I use Madhava Agave Nectar. While I've noticed a lot of your comments with links to articles about the evils of agave syrup I want to also point out this link posted by one of my readers, Shari, from Madhava's President Craig Gerbore.

On a much lighter note, here's a cool coincidence in regards to agave nectar. The winner of last weeks Freebie Friday is Karen from wrighttherapies.com. She left an interesting comment regarding the controversy over agave nectar on my Asian Salad Dressing post.

Agave or not, have a great weekend!

Vegetarian Pad Thai

This Pad Thai is one of my family's favorite dishes.  Add a heap of grilled chicken or sea food and you have a delicious high protein meal.

I purchase my noodles at the Asian market in town and haven't seen them online.  If you are looking for noodles, you'll need to check out the Asian markets in your neck of the woods.  If anyone knows of a good source for mung bean noodles that would be accessible to everyone (think Whole Foods or perhaps an online retailer) by all means, leave a comment.

This is a great dish winter, spring, summer or fall.  I hope you enjoy it.

We're back in full swing with baseball.  My older son is playing on the All-Star Team again so I'll be baking dozens of cookies and brownies in the next 6-8 weeks for their tournaments and having quite a few late night dinners after their 6:00 PM practices.  I'm not complaining though, it's so much fun to sit outside in the evening and watch him play.  A fabulous way to spend summer nights!