Recipes Index

Green Beans with Mushrooms and Almonds

This recipe for green beans with almonds and mushrooms is a new spin on an old classic. Around the holidays we often revert to family traditions, and someone usually shows up with some sort of green bean dish. Whether or not it’s good is another question, and this recipe seeks to recreate an old feeling without losing out on taste or quality.

Curried Cauliflower, Japanese Yam and Potatoes

This delicious whole foods recipe for curried cauliflower, Japanese yam and potatoes is a spin on a traditional East Indian dish (aloo gobi). Japanese yam adds a touch of sweetness, but the dish can be made with just potatoes if the yams are not available. Likewise, if potatoes are not part of your diet, use the yams alone.

Soba Noodles with Maitake Mushrooms

This whole foods recipe for soba noodles with maitake mushrooms is a meeting of great taste with great medicine. Maitake mushrooms are amongst the most popular culinary mushrooms in Japanese cooking, and have a rich, earthy, almost meaty flavor. They also happen to be very powerful medicinal mushrooms, and are used in oriental medicine as mineral rich immune enhancers and cancer fighters. If you cannot source maitakes, use shiitake mushrooms instead

Roasted Vegetable Napoleon Recipe

This stunning whole foods recipe for roasted vegetable napoleon is a gorgeous dish for entertaining or holidays. It can be served with Brown Rice Gravy or, for a more sophisticated presentation, a red wine reduction sauce.

Red Wine Reduction Sauce

Classical French cooking inspires this recipe for red wine reduction sauce. Richly and deeply flavored, it is an excellent accompaniment to seared fish (especially salmon), tofu, or poultry. It is an exceptional sauce for entertaining, and keeps very well. Keep in mind that a little of this intensely flavored sauce goes a long way.

Sweet Winter Squash Stuffed with Cornbread, Wild Rice and Smoked Tempeh

This recipe for sweet winter squash stuffed with cornbread, wild rice and smoked tempeh is a perfect vegetarian option for holiday meals or entertaining in the cooler months. It bridges both the whole foods and macrobiotic tables, and is a wonderfully adaptable recipe. This dish can also be made ahead of time and travels well. Carnivores can substitute high quality turkey sausage for the tempeh with equally good results.

Sweet Baked Delicata Squash with Chili Spices Recipe

This whole foods recipe for sweet baked delicata squash with chili spices is a wonderful sweet/spicy/savory way to prepare delicata or any other hard winter squash. The squash is rubbed with spices, drizzled with a bit of olive oil and agave, and baked to perfection. This is a perfect side for fall entrees, and is an excellent holiday dish as well.

Lentil Stew with Fall Vegetables

This hearty recipe for a stew of lentils and fall vegetables is vegan stunner; it has layers of almost meaty flavor and can be served on its own, with steamed grains, or over polenta. Make plenty, as this stew will have people coming back for seconds, and freezes well.

Roasted Bicolor Broccoli and Cauliflower with Herbs and Spices

This simple recipe for roasted broccoli and cauliflower utilizes herbs for the green veggies, and curry spices for the white, so the final product is vivid yellow and green. Cauliflower sweetens as it cooks, and is a perfect backdrop for the curry. This is an excellent side dish for bean stews, broiled or steamed fish, or tofu.

Oven Roasted Root Vegetables

This easy recipe for oven roasted root vegetables is a wonderfully savory and flexible side dish that is perfect for everyday or entertaining. It has become a favorite at the Thanksgiving table as well as at Sunday dinners in our family. Try different veggies to discover your favorite combinations.

Marinated Mushrooms with Onion and Herbs

This recipe for marinated mushrooms with onions and herbs is a fragrant and delicious side dish that is excellent for entertaining. It’s a wonderful addition to an antipasto platter, and can be made ahead of time.

Squash and Root Vegetable Casserole

This recipe for squash and root vegetable casserole utilizes the best of Eastern spices: cumin, coriander and sesame seeds combine with garlic and (optional) red chilis to create an aromatic and warming fall/winter dish. Serve this casserole with stewed black beans, steamed grains, and greens.

Carrot Basmati Pilaf Recipe, Recipe for Carrot Basmati Pilaf

This recipe for carrot and parsnip basmati pilaf (or pilau, pulao, pilav) is fragrant with caraway, cinnamon, cardamom pods, and garam masala. Unlike many Eastern pilafs, this one is made with brown basmati rice, and has the sweet addition of parsnips.

Spiced Oven Sweet Potato “Fries”

This easy recipe for crispy and delicious spiced oven sweet potato “fries” is a wonderful whole foods answer to French fries. Mustard seeds, turmeric, and cumin, along with a touch of garlic, make a delicious, spicy coating for the sweet potatoes. These are excellent for brunch, lunch, or dinner, and pair well with sautéed greens, grains and black beans, eggs, or a nice fish dish.

Basic Bulgur and Vegetable Pilaf

This easy recipe for basic bulgur and vegetable pilaf is excellent with stews, baked veggies and fish, or even as a savory breafast dish. Bulgur (or bulghur) is crushed wheat that has been parboiled, and dried. Bulgur is NOT cracked wheat, although many people confuse the two. It is rich in fiber, potassium, and vitamins, and is an excellent grain for anyone who tolerates wheat well. Bulgur pilafs are very common in Armenia, Turkey, and the Middle East, and are very easy to make.

Baked Fish with North African Spiced Breadcrumbs

This flavorful recipe for baked fish with spiced breadcrumbs is an adaptation of a dish I had many years ago at a Moroccan restaurant. Garlic, coriander, cumin and lemon create a crisp crust that is delicious with any substantial white fish: snapper, cod, sea bass, halibut and monkfish are all excellent choices.

Lebanese Vegetable Soup

This recipe for Lebanese vegetable soup is similar to many soup recipes from the Mediterranean basin: gently cooked beans and vegetables float in a hearty base redolent of tomato, spices and herbs. If time is a factor, canned beans make this a 25-minute soup that will have people thinking you cooked all afternoon.

Ginger Drink

This lovely ginger drink recipe is a variation on African ginger beer. It is refreshing when served chilled with sparkling water in hot weather; and is a warming brew served piping hot on a chilly day.

Taratour Sauce

This superb, garlicky taratour(tarator) sauce recipe is a variation of a Turkish sauce that is served with anything from veggies to fish to meats. I particularly love it with broiled fish; pan seared or roasted cauliflower and broccoli, artichokes, and carrots. The sauce keeps well for several days.

Pumpkin and Chickpea Curry

This West Indian inspired, whole foods pumpkin and chickpea curry recipe is a wonderful fall/winter entrée and does not need much more than fragrant brown basmati rice and some cooked greens to make an excellent meal.

Wild Mushroom Soup

This macrobiotic wild mushroom soup recipe is a complex, earthy blend of flavors, but is remarkably easy to make. Dark, rich, and excellent for building the blood, mushroom soup is a wonderful, warming, fall/winter food.

Zesty Dijon and Herb Tofu Spread

This zesty whole foods recipe for Dijon and herb tofu spread is rich with the flavors of herbs, sautéed onion, and mustard. It works as a sandwich filling, a dip, a spread for toast, crackers or bagels, and lends itself to being paired with any number of vegetables.

Creamy Carrot Soup with Ginger and Curry Spices

This recipe for creamy carrot soup with curry spices straddles both macrobiotic and whole foods cooking; the spices are not typical of Japanese macrobiotics, but possess anti-inflammatory properties that enhance those of carrots. Not your ubiquitous carrot soup, this possesses layers of flavor that complement its healing properties.

Roasted Squash and Root Vegetable Soup

This richly flavored macrobiotic roasted squash and root vegetable soup is strengthening for spleen and pancreas, soothing for the nervous system, and dispels excess mucus from the body. Try varying which root vegetables you use, as turnips have a sharper flavor than rutabagas, and parsnips are starchy and sweet. Coriander, bay leaf and thyme add lovely flavor to round out this lovely fall recipe.

Brown Rice and Vegetable Salad with Miso Dressing

This cool, tangy, brown rice and vegetable salad with miso dressing is a pleasure to eat on a hot day. Crunchy carrots and celery, parsley and other sweet herbs all combine to make a delicious side dish.