Health for Life cooking in March

Pear Spinach Salad w/ Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette

I've decided that a good way to get your greens in is to mix them with fruit. Whether it's blended in a smoothie or tossed in a salad, it tastes delicious!

This spinach salad is pretty basic with some sliced red onion, chopped walnuts or pecans and a tangy sweet no-oil vinaigrette. Top it with some sweet red d'Anjou pairs and it's almost like eating dessert!




Garden Shepherd's Pie
My husbands friend Troy, who lives in Fillmore and commutes each week to St. George for his 4 day work week, has been staying in our guest room while he is in town, and has welcomed the opportunity to give vegan dining a try. And to my surprise, and his as well, this 6' 5" 235 pound "meat and potatoes" guy loves the food!! And not only that, he says he feels better and wants to make some big changes in the way his family eats! This last trip I sent him home with my copy of The China Study http://www.thechinastudy.com/ and Dr. Fuhrman's (http://www.DrFuhrman.com) Eat to Live DVD. Knowledge is key to success! Anyway, back to the menu, out of all the dishes he has tried, this Garden Shepherds Pie has been his favorite. It's loaded with whole food goodness, including *collard greens, mushrooms, and kidney beans. The topping is a combination of mashed yellow potatoes and cauliflower. This dish is a nutrition powerhouse!
*Research from 2010 reported by Joel Fuhrman, MD states that women who consume 10 grams of mushrooms a day (equivalent to just 1 white button mushroom) along with green vegetables, reduce their risk of breast cancer by 89%!! WOW!! Why isn't that on the cover of the New York Times?


Split Pea Vegetable Soup


I have always loved split pea soup! And I especially love it with a lot of vegetables, like this one which includes the traditional onions, carrots, and celery, and not so traditional cauliflower. Gotta get those cruciferous veggies in! I usually like bread with soup but since I try to limit my bread consumption I add a whole grain such as steamed brown rice, barley, or sprouted wheat berries. Grains are much healthier in their whole intact form and helps fill that need for bread. This soup alone feels like a complete satisfying meal.

Apple Cookie Crumble With apples still plentiful, I wanted to make a really healthy dessert that included this winter time fruit. So I had the idea to make a crust with a raw oat meal cookie recipe and use an apple/date combination for the fruit filling. This dessert is so healthy you could eat it for breakfast. And it's so quick and easy! It only takes me 10 - 15 minutes to make, and no baking is involved!


And there you have it! Health for Life Cooking for the month of March. Class dates are Tuesday March 8, Wednesday March 16 and Tuesday March 29. Hope to see you in class! Contact April at health4life07@yahoo.com