Dear Readers,
Everyone knows I’m a health nerd, so it may come as a surprise that I love to cook. I confess my kitchen looks like a bit like a high-school science lab, complete with the mortar and pestel, juicers, funnels and beakers. Seeds of all sorts. Yeah, I’m a freak, I know. This week, I’m giving you something new to chew on, literally. And it’s not bone soup again. It’s an “Apple Crisp” desert and my famous cranberry sauce. Flavor is not compromised, even though my recipes are gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. Don’t let this scare you, because if I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t even know. These are mouth-watering.
The ingredients I use give you much more than a five minute taste sensation. For example, grape seed oil is helpful with cholesterol management, almond flour has dramatically fewer carbs compared to all-purpose flour, maple syrup contains manganese, needed to help another compound called “superoxide dismutase” disarm free radicals. Cranberries support urinary tract health and contain compounds which stimulate ‘quinone reductase’ enzymes and cause apoptosis, two things that are good thing for people worried about cancer. Fresh ginger can help with arthritis, coconut water has fungus-fighting activity, pineapples contain bromelain, a natural digestive enzyme that helps reduce pain and inflammation. The key to unlocking the flavor in my recipes is by using a real zester, and grating the orange rind, and the ginger, and so forth. Don’t use dry spice, except for cinnamon. Speaking of, hunt down true “Ceylon” cinnamon at a spice shop, not “cassia.” Eat like I do, it’s guilt-free, good for you, and yummy!
Suzy’s Famous Cranberry Sauce
1 cup of coconut water
Fresh cranberries (approx 12 oz bag)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1 tea grated fresh ginger (to taste)
1 tea grated fresh orange rind
1/4 tea cinnamon powder
1/4 cup maple syrup
Directions: Gently boil all the ingredients together, until it is the texture you like. I prefer mine a bit chunky, but if you don’t, you can blend it smooth.
Suzy’s Apple Crisp
5 green apples, peeled and sliced (or chopped)
1/3 cup grape seed oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tea vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (to taste)
2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 cup gluten-free granola
1/2 teas sea salt
1 tea cinnamon
1/2 tea nutmeg
Directions
Place apples in 10 inch baking dish. Mix the wet ingredients and then the dry ingredients, separately. Then, combine the wet ingredients with the dry ones and spread this mixture over the the apples. It will be a little thick. Cover and bake at 350 for about 1 hour. When the apples are juicy and bubbling, remove the cover, and bake another 5 or 10 minutes longer until the top is crisp brown. This recipe could easily be made with peaches instead of apples.
