Discover Delicious and Healthy Recipes for the Festive Holiday Season

Today for wellness Wednesday, Earth’s Wisdom wants to share with you delicious and healthy recipes for upcoming holidays and last minute ideas. The recipes we want to share include apples, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower. We chose them not only because of their good benefits, but also because they taste great! Everyone at your table will find something they can enjoy.

When you include apples in your diet your body benefits from important antioxidants, flavonoids, and dietary fiber. The phytonutrients and antioxidants in apples may help reduce the risk of developing cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. 

Sweet potatoes boost your Vitamin A and C which are important for eye health, bone growth, immunity, skin, and cell division. Not only are they a very good source of manganese, copper, pantothenic acid and vitamin B6, but of potassium, dietary fiber, niacin, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and phosphorus as well. These nutritional values may also help reduce cholesterol levels, which can reduce risk of heart disease.

Our last choice - cauliflower - contains 77 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin C. It's also a good source of vitamin K, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, fiber, vitamin B6, folate, pantothenic acid, potassium, and manganese. Cauliflower comes in different colors such as green, purple, white and yellow. Each color has a unique nutritional value and flavor. Try them all! The impressive benefits of cauliflower are: cancer prevention, boost heart health, anti-inflammatory, boost brain health, detoxification, and digestive health support.

We hope you will enjoy these healthy recipes made by Dreena Burton and would like to ask you to share your favorite one with us.

Happy Healthy Cooking!

Apple Hemp Muffins(12)

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups whole-grain spelt flour
• 1 cup oat flour
• 2/3 – 3/4 cup hemp seeds
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1⁄4 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1⁄4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 cup unsweetened organic applesauce
• 1⁄2 cup pure maple syrup
• 3⁄4 cup plain or vanilla non-dairy milk
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup raisins or chopped raw banana spears

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, sifting in the baking powder and baking soda. Stir through until well combined. In another bowl, combine applesauce, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, and vanilla, and mix together. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and gently fold and mix through, until just combined (do not overmix). Spoon the mixture into a muffin pan lined with cupcake liners (this will fill 12 muffins quite full).  Bake for 21-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  

Roasted Sweet Potato Puree

Ingredients

• 2½–3 lbs orange-fleshed sweet potatoes
• 2–3 tsp olive oil (optional, can omit and use water, vegetable broth, coconut water, or plain non-dairy milk)
• ⅛–¼ tsp fresh grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp sea salt, or more, to taste

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce sweet potatoes a few times. Place on upper rack of oven, with a piece of tin foil on lower rack to catch drippings. Bake for 50–60 minutes, until very tender when pierced (baking time varies based on tomatoes size). Remove from oven, and let cool long enough to handle. Peel skins and in a bowl or food processor, add yam flesh, olive oil, nutmeg, and sea salt. Using a hand blender or food processor, purée until smooth. Season with additional sea salt and pepper if desired. Serve immediately, or return to oven (on low heat) to keep warm.

Pureed Sweet Potatoes and Peanut Stew with Chickpeas

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp water
• 5 1⁄2 – 6 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups onions, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 3 – 4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp cumin seeds (not ground cumin)
• 3 – 31⁄2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1⁄4 – 1⁄2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or more to taste)

• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 3 cups water
• 2 1/2 - 4 tbsp fresh ginger, grated (adjust to taste)
• 2 tbsp natural peanut butter (can substitute almond or cashew butter)
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 3–4 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• lime wedges (for serving)
• fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions

• In a large pot on medium heat, add water, sweet potatoes, onion, celery, garlic, salt, cumin seeds, ground coriander, paprika, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 5–7 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add stock, water, and 1 tbsp ginger (reserve remaining 1-2 tbsp). Stir to combine and increase heat to bring mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15–18 minutes or longer, until sweet potatoes have completely softened. Stir in remaining ginger (adjusting to taste) and peanut butter. With a hand blender, puree soup until just smooth. Stir in chickpeas and lime juice, and serve with additional lime wedges and fresh cilantro. Makes 7-8 servings.

Almond Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients

• 4 – 4 ½ cups cauliflower flowerets (about 1 medium cauliflower, with bite-sized flowerets cut and used)
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/8 tsp (rounded) sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp almond meal
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet or 8 by 12-inch baking pan with parchment paper.  Toss the cauliflower with the olive oil and sea salt (and pepper, if using). Transfer to the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes, tossing once or twice. At the 20-minute mark, check the doneness and color of the cauliflower. If it has started to soften, turning a golden color, add the almond meal and nutritional yeast and toss again. If, at 20 minutes, it isn’t at this stage, let it bake for another 10 minutes and then add the almond meal and nutritional yeast. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or more, tossing again once, until the cauliflower is golden brown and fully softened.  Remove from the oven and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm! 
• Oil-free note: You can lessen or ignore the oil. Without oil, the cauliflower will not be as moist and caramelized.

ENJOY!!!

Source for these healthy recipes:

Dreena, B. Pureed Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew with Chickpeas (from Let Them Eat Vegan). Retrieved from http://plantpoweredkitchen.com/recipe-page/?recipe_id=6043706

Dreena, B.(2012, August 13). Almond-Roasted Cauliflower (and ‘evolving’ taste buds!). Retrieved from http://plantpoweredkitchen.com/recipe-page/?recipe_id=6030634

Dreena, B.(2013, January 22). Apple Hemp Muffins (vegan, wheat-free, and oil-free). Retrieved from http://plantpoweredkitchen.com/recipe-page/?recipe_id=6040761 

Dreena, B. Roasted Sweet Potatoe Puree. Retrieved from http://plantpoweredkitchen.com/recipe-page/?recipe_id=6036589

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