Tag: cruciferous

Lettuce Be Friends

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

Lettuce.

Lettuce who?

Lettuce be friends.

I think I read that on a Valentine’s Day card… probably in grade school.

Anyway, friends, I wanted to share this awesome organic lettuce we’ve been buying from Aldi.

The box is crammed with organic lettuce varieties like red and green leaf lettuce, red and green oak, red and green chard, Lolla Rosa, tango, spinach, arugula, beet greens, frisee, radicchio, mizuna, kale, red mustard greens, tatsoi, and collards. I’ve never even heard of some of these.

It’s prewashed, and its a full pound.

It’s a good deal, though I can’t tell you the exact price I paid. #worthit

Daughter Days

Our daughter is with us this summer and I couldn’t be happier. 🙂😍

Tonight, she’s the chef. She made an amazing kale salad that is really healthy and nutritious.

We added a little grilled chicken on top.

Here’s the recipe if you want to give it a try:

Warm Kale and Quinoa Salad

Quick Slaw

Another quick, cold, plant-based recipe for you. I’m sorry, I don’t have a more exacting recipe. You’re gonna have to use the force on this one.

Enjoy!

  • Red cabbage
  • Carrots
  • Sunflower seeds or pistachios
  • Raisins or another similar-sized dried fruit
  • Honey
  • Salt
  • Red wine vinegar

Find a bowl you’d like to serve this dish in.

Slice the cabbage very thin. You want enough to fill the bowl approximately 60% full of the shredded cabbage.

Wash the carrots and then either use a hand peeler OR a cheese grater to shred them. Add them to the bowl. These 2 ingredients will take up most of the space in the bowl, so keep adding until it is about 90% full.

Add at least a cup each of sunflower seeds and raisins. Mix well. Salt liberally, unless the sunflower seeds have already done that for you.

Add honey and red wine vinegar in equal amounts to coat the ingredients. Mix well.

It’s crunchy, sweet, salty, and healthy. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated, which makes it perfect for summer, camping, etc.

Once you get the hang of it, swap out white cabbage for red, different nuts or seeds, different dried fruit, fancy vinegars… just make sure you include something crunchy, something sweet, something salty, and something vinegarrey. 😋

Use the force!

Sulforaphane

Isn’t it beautiful? Look at those Fibonacci swirls! 🤩

Sulforaphane is a phytonutrient compound found in cruciferous vegetables. Regular consumption is connected with an overall lower risk of cancer, and many studies show that it fights active cancer, too.

Here’s a quick list of cruciferous veggies:

  • Broccoli
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Cabbage
  • Cauliflower
  • Collard greens
  • Bok choy
  • Kale
  • Radish
  • Romanesco broccoli, pictured above
  • Watercress
  • Wasabi

The food that has the most sulforaphane is actually the broccoli SPROUT, which are  delicious in a salad. The sprouts can have 10 to 100 times the amount of sulforaphane than the mature vegetable.

I’ve definitely upped my intake this year, and I’m regularly eating sprouts & microgreens now.

Here are some interesting videos if you want to learn more. Dr. Eric Berg below points out that it has been studied a lot, more than 35 times.

In the video below, Dr. Moss shares that this research is very controversial, because most  chemotherapy drugs do not kill cancer stem cells, but this common, inexpensive vegetable DOES.

Learn more about these veggies: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/cruciferous-vegetables.htm