Hearty 4 Bean Stew

Hearty Four Bean Stew -
Recipe Adapted from The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook, by Cybele Pascal (Vital Health Publishing, 2005).
Simple Solution
Beans are a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet, packed with fiber and protein without a lot of fat or cholesterol. The flavor of this hearty stew--with its touch of honey, lime, and Dijon mustard along with healthful garlic and fresh parsley--makes it taste like you labored over the stove for hours, even though you won't have to!
We serve this nourishing stew with biscuits or a loaf of crusty bread, but those with wheat allergies might enjoy it with puffed mochi. Any way you dish it up, Hearty Four Bean Stew is sure to please: this is one-pot cooking at its finest.
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion, diced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
1 ~ 15-ounce can lima beans
1 ~ 15-ounce can kidney beans
1 ~ 15-ounce can pinto beans
1 ~ 15-ounce can black beans
2 tablespoons rice vinegar, or cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 cups water
Juice of 1 lime
1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a large pot over medium heat until soft. Add carrots and celery and cook until softened. Add thyme and cook a minute or so.
2. Add beans (do not drain them), vinegar, honey, mustard, salt, pepper, half of the parsley, and water. Bring to a boil reduce heat to a simmer over low heat and cook, loosely covered, for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so.
3. Remove from heat and add lime juice and the rest of the parsley. Serve hot.
Serves 6.
Helpful HintsAlthough the recipe calls for canned beans, feel free to use dried ones that you cook yourself, using about 1 1/2 cups of each kind of cooked bean for the recipe.

Creamy Red Pepper Soup

Creamy Red Pepper Soup -
Recipe Adapted from The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook, by Cybele Pascal (Vital Health Publishing, 2005).
Simple Solution
This gorgeous orange-red soup brimming with vitamin C can be made with or without dairy to create a creamy and colorful meal that will perk up even the drabbest winter day.
Try serving Creamy Red Pepper Soup with a crisp salad and blue corn tortilla chips to complement its fiery color. You’ll receive a bounty of antioxidants in every mouthful of this flavorful soup.
INGREDIENTS
2 medium potatoes, chopped into 1-inch pieces
6 cups good-quality vegetable broth
4 red or orange bell peppers, deseeded and chopped
1 large onion, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup canned tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons oat, rice, or wheat flour
1 cup enriched rice milk or whole milk
1 scant tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons Port or dry sherry
Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
1. In a large pot, cook the potatoes in 2 cups broth over medium heat, loosely covered, until very tender, about 30 minutes.
2. While potatoes are cooking, in a large heavy-bottomed pot, saute minced onion in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until softened but not browned. Add chopped peppers, chopped tomatoes, and remaining 4 cups of broth. Cook until peppers are very soft.
3. When potatoes have softened, puree in a blender with their broth and replace in pot. When peppers are soft, puree the pepper/tomato mixture in batches, adding it to the potato puree in pot.
4. Use the pot that the peppers cooked in to heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Stir in flour and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes, then add milk or rice milk. Cook, stirring frequently, until this sauce thickens into a roux. When thick and creamy, add to puree in soup pot, stirring to combine.
5. Turn heat under soup to medium-low, and add honey, paprika, cumin, port, salt, and a few grindings of fresh pepper. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Serve hot, garnished with fresh parsley.
Serves 8.

Healing Avocado Citrus Salad

Healing Avocado Citrus Salad
Inspired by Chez Panisse Café Cookbook, by Alice Waters (Morrow Cookbooks, 1999).
Simple Solution
The health-promoting nutrition of both avocado and citrus are legendary, and this gorgeous salad inspired by chef of the month Alice Waters is a tribute to their healing benefits, as well as the taste sensation produced by their combination.
Zesty, tangy, sweet, creamy, crispy: this salad has it all. Avocado reduces bad cholesterol, while the vitamin C of grapefruit segments, married with the antioxidant goodness and bright flavors of citrus zest completes the healing picture. We hope you enjoy the vibrant flavors of this late-winter wake-up on a plate!
INGREDIENTS
6 small heads curly endive, white hearts only, washed and spun dry 1 large shallot 2 tablespoons white wine or champagne vinegar 1 lemon 1 orange Pinch of salt 2 grapefruits 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 ripe avocados
1. Peel the shallot and dice finely. Allow to macerate in a small bowl with the vinegar, 1 tablespoon each of lemon juice and orange juice, and a pinch of salt.
2. Remove grapefruit peel, the white pith just beneath the peel, and the membranes surrounding each segment. Cut the sections free, carefully slicing along the membranes. Peel a little lemon and orange zest and finely chop enough to make about 1/4 teaspoon of each.
3. When you are ready to assemble the salad, whisk the olive oil into the shallot mixture. Add the orange and lemon zest and taste, adding more olive oil or lemon juice if necessary.
4. Cut the avocados in half lengthwise and remove the pits. Using a sharp knife, cut the avocados into lengthwise slices about the same size as the grapefruit sections, keeping the skin on. Scoop out the slices with a large spoon. Toss the curly endive and grapefruit sections in a bowl with about two thirds of the dressing. Taste the salad, adding salt if needed. Arrange on a platter or individual dishes.
5. Artfully place avocado slices alongside the endive and grapefruit, season them with a pinch of salt, and drizzle the rest of the dressing over them.
Serves 6.

5 Safe, Non Toxic Winter Cleaners

Simple Solution
As the days get longer in the northern hemisphere, and the sun begins to stream in the windows, all the dust shows itself in stark clarity and we tend to clean. But winter cleaning provides its own challenge, which is to be careful to not dirty the air with toxic cleaners with the windows closed. Solvent-based products such as furniture polish, soot cleaners, oven cleaner, synthetically scented cleaning products of any sort, and, ironically, air fresheners, are all culprits that can pollute your home.
Here are five safe and nontoxic winter cleaning staples, including a light and lemony dusting cloth:
Alternative Cleaning Polish
Nontoxic Oven Cleaner
Air Fresheners
Light and Lemony Dusting Cloth
Washing Soda All Purpose Cleaner (and soot cleaner)

Garlic Potato Healing Soup

Adapted from The Findhorn Book of Vegetarian Recipes, by Kay Lynne Sherman (Findhorn Press, 2003).
Simple Solution
Here is a folk remedy for those days when you’re out of sorts and not feeling well. Comforting and packed with the healing power of garlic, this soup is good for what ails you!
Keep the recipe on hand to make whenever you or a loved one is feeling under the weather: Garlic Potato Healing Soup is a keeper.
INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed with a mortar and pestle
2 cups chopped potatoes
7 cups good-quality vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon salt
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon butterCroutons for garnish (optional)
1. Simmer potatoes and caraway seeds in stock or water for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are very soft.
2. Add crushed garlic and butter, stirring to combine thoroughly.
3. Serve hot with croutons on top, if desired.
Serves 2.

Granny's Vegetable Barley Soup

Adapted from The Findhorn Book of Vegetarian Recipes, by Kay Lynne Sherman (Findhorn Press, 2003).
Simple Solution
Imagine an iron pot hanging over an open fire, bubbling with this hearty, fragrant soup, so similar to the ones many of our ancestors used to make. It offers plenty of simple, healthful whole-grain and vegetable nutrition, and only needs a salad and a loaf of bread and maybe a wedge of good cheese to complete the meal.
This is the kind of nourishment, ease, and simplicity we crave in winter: many a Wise Woman knew how to make a steaming pot of Granny’s Vegetable Barley Soup to keep the cold away.
INGREDIENTS
1 onion, diced
Inner stalks and leaves of a head of celery, chopped
2 tablespoons oil
2 1/2 quarts good-quality vegetable broth or water
1 cup barley
1 bay leaf
2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
2 carrots, scrubbed and chopped
1 large can (30 ounces) tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with juice
1 1/2 cups seasonal greens--kale, chard, collards--coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
Salt to taste
1. In a large soup pot, saute the onion and celery in oil until tender and starting to brown. Add broth or water and bring to a boil.
2. Rinse barley under running water and then add to boiling soup stock. Add bay leaf and simmer one hour, until barley is tender.
3. Add potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and tomato juice to soup. Simmer about 1 hour until vegetables are very soft. Add more water if necessary.
4. Just before serving, add greens and basil, cooking until greens are just tender. Add salt to taste.
Serves 10 to 12.