Fall/winter food and medicine warm us well
Nov 13, 2021 – This weekend offers temperatures in the 40s. For me, that means hot liquids and food to stick to my ribs.
Nick Polizzi of The Sacred Serve shares a family recipe for elderberry syrup to treat colds and flu. Raw, the berries are poisonous to mammals, but cooked into a syrup, they safely provide vitamins and antioxidants.
Nick combines 1 cup of dried(2 cups fresh) berries with 4 cups of water and lets them simmer for an hour. Then he strains them, leaving the juice in a bowl, and puts the strained berries in a compost pile since the seeds are still poisonous. Next, he puts the remaining juice back in the pot to simmer. Then he adds ½ cup of syrup to the simmered juice, stirring until the syrup melts. Finally, he bottles the mixture and stores it in the refrigerator for 4 weeks.
Nick didn’t state how much to take for a cold or flu, but back in 400 B.C., Hippocrates, the European father of medicine, called the elder tree a medicine chest. Nick can be contacted at info@thesacredserve.com .
LikeMeat suggests soaking plant-based cheese in water before using in a recipe. Then it will melt. Pizza or pasta, anyone?
Nutritionist Deepa calls the winter squashes, including pumpkin, fall vegetables because they stick to your ribs. She grills them on www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC3M7R8CUZc , but she also encourages adding squash bites to salads, chili, soups, oatmeal, lattes, chia pudding, etc.
At the 61st Street Farmers Market, I recently purchased kuri and Long Island Cheese squashes. Urban Canopy suggested that I cut the red-orange, unribbed kuri in quarters and add brown sugar. Since I avoid refined sugar, I skinned the roasted squash, cubed it, added cinnamon and put it into my vegetable stew. Gorman Farms bragged about how sweet the lighter, ribbed Long Island Cheese was, so I roasteded it, smashed half of it, and then added it to freshly cooked linguine, adding a little water and umami seasoning.
The squash definitely was sweet, but I still need some help with the sauce. Any suggestions? I used the other half as gluten-free toast(instead of sweet potato) with different salad vegetables.
Ocean Robbins of the Food Revolution Network offers several tips for peaceful, unstressed meal planning. Having a potluck, offering neutral dishes to accommodate guests dietary needs, offering side dishes instead of entrees so guests can sample what they want, and focusing on building bonds appealed to me. To check out his other tips and view the network holiday recipes for drinks, appetizers, salads, entrees, sides and desserts at www.foodrevolution.org/blog/healthy-and-happy-holiday-gatherings/?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blo-2021&utm_content=healthy-holiday-meals .
If you want more ideas, go to Resources and then Recipes on this blog.
Do you have a recipe for a non-tomato squash sauce recipe? What holiday recipe are you willing to share on the blog? Have you considered turning your holiday dinners into a potluck so that you can spend more time with your guests? Who usually washes the dishes after the holiday dinner?