Back in October, Laura Avery of KCRW interviewed a local farmer named Mario Trevino about the medicinal properties of tomatillo husks. Turns out that he’s been brewing these to help lower his blood sugar! Several of you can surely use this as an adjunct to your current dietary modifications if you have diabetes or pre-diabetes.  
 
Tomatillo Husk Tea
 
10 tomatillo husks  
1 zucchini  
1 nopal cactus  
 
Boil for an hour and a half. Let it sit overnight. Drink the following morning. It supposedly tastes awful but it works for him.

On July 4, Steve made an amazing summer potato purslane salad. Purslane is an amazing green vegetable that looks like a succulent. It has a tangy bite to it and it’s one of the only vegetables that is high in omega 3 fatty acids. It’s only in season during the summer months and we can find it at the farmers markets in So Cal. 
 
1 lb Fingerling or Yukon Gold potatoes 
1 large bunch purslane 
4 scallions 
1/4-1/3 cup grapeseed vegannaise 
2 tablespoons dijon mustard 
2 tablespoons good quality red wine vinegar 
1/3-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 
2 cloves garlic (optional) 
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (optional) 
Celtic sea salt and freshly ground Tellicherry black pepper (yes it makes a difference) 
 
Steam the potatoes until tender, cool slightly and cut into chunks. Remove the large tough stems from the purslane, soak in acidulated water, drain and then coarsely chop. Slice the green onions thinly including the green part. Finely mince the garlic and thyme leaves, if using. Combine the garlic, thyme, red wine vinegar, mustard and mayonaise in a small mixing bowl and whisk together. Add the oil slowly until you have a nice emulsion that stays together. Season with the salt and pepper, tasting for balance. Combine the purslane, potatoes and green onions in a large salad bowl, then pour enough of the dressing over it to coat all of it. Gently toss, making sure everything is well coated but not swimming in dressing. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or so before serving. Taste for seasoning before serving.

We just got back from a week-long trip to Hong Kong and Beijing where I had no choice but to eat tons of grease and pesticide-laden food. Some of the cooked vegetables we ate actually had an awful acrid taste so it was nice to finally get back to the farmers market this morning and get right back on my detox. I found incredibly beautiful watermelon radishes at the Santa Monica market and decided to make a little Northern Chinese-inspired salad out of these.  
 
1 Julienned or thinly sliced watermelon radish (you can use any other type of colorful radish)  
2 tablespoons rice or Kopali organic banana vinegar  
1 tablespoon traditionally brewed San-J or Eden soy sauce  
1/2 teaspoon raw cane sugar  
1.5-2 tablespoons La Nogelera walnut oil  

Okay, so this is only my opinion but it is based on a great Martha Stewart recipe I came across. I’ve modified it somewhat and you probably will too, depending on what your particular likes and dislikes are. Once you’ve made it and see that it takes no more than 20 minutes, you’ll never eat store-bought granola again. 
 
½ c shredded unsweetened organic coconut 
4 c organic old fashioned rolled oats 
¼ c unhulled sesame seeds 
½ c coarsely chopped raw almonds 
½ c coarsely chopped raw pecans 
½ c coarsely chopped raw walnuts 
½ t ground cinnamon 
¼ t ground nutmeg 
½ c local raw honey 
1 stick organic butter, melted (It’s OK! A little organic butter is not bad for you!) 
¼ c flax seeds 
½ dried fruit (I never put dried fruit in my granola because I hate it but you could use raisins, figs, etc.) 
 

 
As an option, I like to add some coarse sea salt for that simultaneous sweet-salty fix.

This is the most amazing smoothie I’ve ever had. It is better than any milkshake I’ve ever had without any dairy products or refined sugar plus lots of electrolytes, potassium, fiber and good fats. This serves 2.  
 
Ingredients 
Water and meat from 1 young coconut 
1 banana 
1-2 T raw organic coconut butter 
2 T non-GMO lecithin 
2 T freshly ground organic flax seed 
 
Blend all ingredients and enjoy!

This might look like murky water but it is my new favorite topping for any kind of cooked vegetable. It’s so darn good. I never used to like anchovies until very recently. Anchovies are totally safe because they’re such small fish and won’t likely accumulate any toxicity unless you’re in the South China Sea or in the Great Lakes and they’ve mutated because of all of the PCB’s and endocrine disruptors. It also has garlic, which is detoxifying and antifungal. I like to put in hardy herbs like fresh rosemary and fresh thyme, both of which have a lot of antioxidants and antimicrobial properties so they’re great for the immune system. 
 
1/4 c olive oil (doesn’t have to be the extremely expensive kind) 
1-2 anchovies, chopped 
4 cloves fresh garlic, sliced thin 
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed 
1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed and coarsely chopped 
coarse sea salt 
 
In a saucepan, heat olive oil on low heat. Once warm, add chopped anchovies and wait until anchovies dissolve. Add garlic, thyme and rosemary and turn off heat. Allow this to infuse for a few minutes. Finish with some coarse sea salt.

This month my entire office staff is attempting a detox, including myself. Although I already conscientiously do this, I have been making more of an effort to eat as many colorful vegetables as possible. Here is a dish I made recently with veggies from the farmers market. Please keep in mind that I have blogged this in the winter so this is what is local and seasonal at this time: 
 
Winter Vegetable Bagna Cauda 
1 head treviso (a type of radicchio) 
1/2 bunch wild purple Japanese mustard greens 
1 medium head purple cauliflower, cut into florets 
1 medium head broccoli, cut into florets 
1 bunch red carrots, sliced into bite-size pieces 
1 bunch red or easter egg radishes, sliced 
1 bunch asparagus, chopped up 
 
Slice treviso and cut up mustard greens and toss together. Prepare your steamer and steam each type of vegetable individually, as each vegetable has its own cooking time. I’ve found that cauliflower and broccoli steam perfectly in about 3-4 minutes (broccoli takes a little longer than cauliflower), carrots in 3-4 minutes (depending on the size you’ve cut them in), asparagus in 1 minute. If you haven’t cultivated steaming, the best thing to do is stand at the stove and lift up the lid every so often and stick your fork in. When you’ve gotten to the point in which you don’t have any resistance, it’s done. Once you remove the vegetables from the heat, place them on a cookie sheet to cool off. Leave the radishes raw. Toss everything together with some good extra virgin olive oil, coarse sea salt and pepper. Or you can use an infused homemade oil which can be found in another post. 
 
I love this recipe because it is so beautiful and colorful and you can taste the essence of the vegetables. They’re not drowning in butter or cheese or whatever else people put on their vegetables.

I had to coerce a patient into sharing this recipe. It’s genius: You can satiate your chocolate craving without substantially increasing your blood sugar while moving your bowels! I’ve modified it a wee bit but I’ve maintained the essence of her creation…
 
1 oz baker’s chocolate, cut into chunks (please see blog on which chocolates are not contaminated with lead) 
1/2 tablespoon (usually soup spoon size) brown rice syrup 
3-4 tablespoons freshly ground organic flax 
bit of vanilla 
dash of coarse sea salt 
1 tablespoon coconut, almond, macadamia-cashew butter OR some chopped nuts 
 
Place chocolate and brown rice syrup in a bowl and place on top of a pot of boiling water but do not allow the bowl to touch the water. Stir until melted. Remove from heat and add flax, vanilla, salt and nuts. Roll into bite-sized balls and enjoy!

Poaching is a great way to prepare chicken since the nutritional value is preserved well and the Chinese medicine qualities are nourishing, as opposed to roasting or baking (which are drying). It’s really easy as well. Put a few of the following ingredients (celery, carrot, onion, green onion, leek, shiitake mushroom, fennel, peppercorns, parsley, thyme, cloves, garlic, ginger, etc.) with water and bring to a low simmer. Immerse chicken breasts or legs and cover. Breasts take about 10 minutes, legs take about 15 minutes. The chicken can now be eaten as is or can be further prepared as chicken salad.  
But wait! Save that poaching liquid! Strain the ingredients and now you can use this for a soup base. What I did last night was use this liquid for a yummy shiitake mushroom-thyme risotto topped with fresh black and white truffles. 
 

Brandon insists this is the best salad he’s ever had. It was pretty darn good, I must say. I had to resolve some leftover phlegm from my episode of sore throat/laryngitis last week so I wanted to eat radishes. I was trying to figure out what to do with them but I didn’t feel like stressing out my gall bladder by eating a bunch of buttered radishes at 9 pm. So I ripped off a recipe from one of the Food Network chefs and modified it to fit what I had from the farmers market already:
 
1 bunch purple (or whatever color you want) salad radishes from Flora Bella Farms, VERY thinly sliced on a mandoline and salted
1 Asian pear from Ha’s, VERY thinly sliced on a mandoline
1 bunch arugula from Flora Bella Farms
2 T really good organic extra virgin olive oil (Okay it’s not local. I hate California olive oils. They taste like terpentine.)
1 T cold pressed walnut oil (La Nogalera from Ventura County)
1 T Kopali banana vinegar (other types of vinegar might be extremely acidic so you’d need less than 1 T)
Parmesan cheese (Cowgirl Creamery)
Celtic sea salt
 
Prepare the radishes, pear and arugula. Combine the vinegar with 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt and allow to dissolve slightly. Whisk in the oils and pour on top of other ingredients. Grate some parmesan cheese on top (I like to use a microplane because it comes out beautifully and airy) and toss all together.
 
Let me know what you think. Enjoy!