I often speak about turning your black and white food world into technicolor; moving from all the tan and beige on the Standard American Diet (SAD) plate to the rainbow-hued plate of the healthy whole foods cook. Over the years we’ve learned that rich color actually signifies the presence of nutrient density. The deeper the purples, blues, and reds for instance, the greater the concentration of antioxidants. The ruby red raspberries, indigo wild blueberries, and purple-black blackberries really are nutritional gems of the plant kingdom.

It's that time of year! Asparagus is on the way. As those of you who have followed my blog or played with my cookbooks already know, I am WILD about asparagus. Are you with me? Do like to eat asparagus in all its guises as long as you can get it while it's truly fresh and seasonal? It's uniquely delicious AND the perfect detoxifier as spring arrives. If you're already in love with this elegant vegetable—or if this will be a new romance—here's a favorite blog post to help you dive right in.

Can I help it if I wear my culinary heart on my sleeve?

Those who know me, especially my farmer buddies at my local market, know that this is the time of year I SWOON over what I call those elegant green long ladies of spring. 

Your inspiration for the week: don’t overlook cabbage! I call cabbage the bocci ball of the cruciferous set. A bowling ball, a big, heavy dense, ball of leaves. In terms of nutritional benefits, cabbage rocks. It’s chock full of goodness! Fiber, potassium, choline, B12, iron, selenium, pantothenic acid (B5), manganase…. But. It’s like the stepchild of broccoli and kale. It’s the humblest of vegetables. Nobody even thinks about it. 

With Valentine’s Day approaching, I could be thinking about chocolate...but I’m thinking about the color red. And I might be thinking about strawberries… but I’m thinking about beets!

Is everyone around you coming down with colds and flu? And those nasty respiratory infections that linger so much longer than anyone expects? That’s February. A volatile month, a gauntlet we run to make it to spring. Whether you’ve got kids in school, like little Petri dishes scooting around, or you’re hopping on an airplane, or shoulder to shoulder on the subway, unless you live in a bubble, you are vulnerable.

A spot-on post from the archives: be kind to yourself this holiday season! Have fun. Savor those special treats! I wave my magic culinary wand, thus decree. Enjoy! :)

Why do we do it? We have this tendency over the holidays to put ourselves on a LONG nonstop guilt trip, like a first class ticket to Hong Kong and back, on the most expensive airline you can imagine. We splurge and purge AND beat ourselves up over it. I have a better idea: find a way that works for you to relax and enjoy life! If you have a brownie, enjoy it! And so you don’t massively overdo, and truly feel awful, plan ahead.

Fall… that invigorating time, filled with crisp air, glowing woodlands, and a feeling of the world settling down for a long winter siesta….  And how many of you have already flirted with colds during this change of seasons, hmmm?

Time to focus on boosting your immune system! 

My favorite season is coming up, and that’s soup season! My neighbor and Soup Sister Julie Burford and all the folks on the block are getting revved up, and I can already see the steam coming out of the kitchens. The first stage of soup making is broth making, so we’re all busy making Magic Mineral Broth (see below) and bone broths and freezing them in quart jars, ready to incorporate them into big colorful vats of nourishing, comforting, savory soups! 

This is the first ever guest post on my blog! Lately, some people in my close circle have been writing posts that touch me on a really deep level, and I want you to see them, too. It’s that feeling of OMG! Did this piece ever nail it on the head! It’s like a good book. You just want to tell your friends.

This post is from my dear friend Marti Wolfson, MS, who has appeared on my blog several times — most recently in Foods to take when you travel (when she was starving on an airplane at 26 weeks pregnant) and last fall in Soup Session with the extraordinary Marti Wolfson, when we had SUCH a good time chopping and cooking up Spicy Thai Carrot, Corn & Tomato Bisque soup.

What, I ask you, could be more sublime for summer than salads?

I have a history with salads. When I was growing up, my father was called the Condiment King, because he manufactured salad dressings and mayonnaise. Our fridge was always filled with sample jars of the latest dressings, so we were very on trend salad-wise. My father truly loved salads. He had his Sunday salad, his Thursday salad, his Saturday salad, and they were all different. In other words, salad was a BIG thing in our house!
 

What you can drink during the summer months that’s refreshing and different? And not soda!

The reality is, sodas are bad for your health. Want details?

Berries! So small, so adorable! If you really look at your berries, you’ll see each one is unique. I have a small sketch pad I carry around in my back pocket, like a journalist walking around with her reporter’s notebook.

Last week I had my family for dinner, including my absolutely engaging, never-can-do-wrong 10-year old grandson Brandon (who loves broccoli). I have a rule at my table: there are no screens of any kind. Nobody pulls their phone out, for any reason (which is much harder for my husband than anybody else!). Dinner is family time. 

I'm delighted to share this delicious post from our archives — one of my all-time favorites, as you will imagine since I am a self-proclaimed spud slut! There! I said it. No truer words. And I may be a bit counter-culture by championing potatoes, but hear me out, and learn that yes! Potatoes can be a marvelous, and especially delectable, part of a healthy diet.

Did you know that potatoes are a dream food?

They are soul-satisfying, comforting, scintillatingly delicious, and full of extraordinarily healthful properties. So why do people dis them? What’s not to like? 

When I say “carbohydrates,” do you picture bread, bagels, pasta and pastries? Well, yes. But that’s not the WHOLE picture. See the gorgeous plant foods above? These have carbohydrates in them, too, what are called COMPLEX carbohydrates. I want to be clear as a bell that the effects of simple vs. complex carbohydrates on the body are totally different.

It’s official — it’s spring! Some of my favorite foods will be arriving in the markets soon. In fact, I just had my first asparagus!!! I’m SUCH an asparagus stalker (pun intended). Every late winter I’m in constant contact with a favorite farmer about the expected date of arrival of the elegant long ladies of spring, and I just can’t WAIT! I bring it home and roast it. It’s like candy for me! And yet it’s an unbeatable spring tonic for the liver and gallbladder. Talk about win/win.

I’m hearing this refrain a lot among friends lately: I’m soooo tired! Is it life? Politics? Work or family stress? Are we doing too much, trying to absorb too much information, sitting too much, and moving too little? Whatever IT is, I have some terrific food news for you that you can employ to improve that feeling of fatigue.
 

How often have you heard that mellifluous recommendation: eat dark leafy greens.

You know greens are an immensely powerful culinary Rx, right? And arguably the greatest longevity foods out there, exploding with disease-fighting phytochemicals? And that one of the single BEST things you can do to improve your health is to eat plenty of them? But… do you know how to cook them?

I asked, and you answered! When the 2nd edition of The Cancer Fighting Kitchen launched into the world just a little over a week ago, I asked readers who loved the 1st edition to share why, along with their photographs. if they wished. It’s been delightful to hear from some of you!

Does nutrition information sometimes seem overwhelming?

Especially if you are seeking to improve a complex health condition, you may feel like you need to acquire a PhD in order to find your way! Your doctor doesn’t have all the answers, NOBODY seems to have all the answers, so you may feel like it’s on all on you.

Allow me to assist.