I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve only recently made pancakes. I’ve actually never really liked them so much because I’ve always found them so heavy in my stomach in the morning. Oh and not to mention the blood sugar rush. I was inspired by my friend Caylie to make the Buckwheat Pear Pancake recipe from Good to the Grain. Because I generally dislike cooking foods that are out of season, I decided to modify the recipe a little bit. 
 
Dry Mix 
1 c buckwheat flour 
1 c spelt flour 
2 t baking powder 
3/4 t sea salt 
 
Wet Mix 
2 T melted coconut oil 
1 1/4 c rice milk (I’m sure coconut milk would be even better) 
1 egg 
1-2 bananas, mashed 
 
Sift the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Combine the wet ingredients and gently integrate into the dry ingredients. Do not overmix or else you might get a heavier pancake. Cook as you would a normal pancake but be sure to oil the pan well with coconut oil (or butter if you’re not on the anti-inflammatory diet). Personally, I felt this combination was sweet enough due to the bananas so I didn’t need any syrup (which I don’t even have anyway). But you could always make your own syrup with coconut oil (or butter) and honey. By the way, nonstick pans are evil and can kill birds so I hope you all throw them away and use a stainless steel exterior pan or cast iron skillet. 
 
Now I’m on a pancake kick and am inspired to make pah jeon. 

If any of us have told you to consume more foods that are high on the ORAC index (high in antioxidants), know that culinary herbs and spices are among the highest. Even more than regular vegetables and fruits. So I decided to geek out and put all of the indexed culinary herbs on a spreadsheet to graph out for you. Keep in mind that all fresh herbs are good but note which ones are the highest. I personally like to get my fresh organic herbs from the farmers markets. One of my favorite farms that I don’t get to often because they are only at the Santa Monica market here in LA is Coleman Family Farms. Brandon and I visited their farm years ago and their herbs truly have a lot of… “Qi.” But there are a few stands at the Hollywood market that has excellent herbs as well. Even better would be if you grow them yourself! I always put a ton of fresh herbs in my salads either mixed in with the lettuce or incorporated into a dressing (perhaps a non-dairy green goddess?). I also like to make pesto and pistou with an assortment of fresh herbs. I don’t recommend cooking fresh herbs too much as that will inactivate some of the antioxidant activity.