Healthy Meal / kid friendly
Sprouts and Beans!
My idea of a balanced meal is a plate full of green veggies with a side of slow cooked beans with a Red Apple Butchers hot Italian sausage. A filling and delicious winter meal and yep, it's healthy too. Of course, if you are going to eat meat, make sure it's from an animal raised on a healthy farm, certified humane and organic. Or buy direct from a local farm or a butcher shop that only sells humanely raised farm animals like James and Jazu at Red Apple Butchers in Berkshire Organics.
This recipe takes about 35 minutes, most of which is cooking time. Getting the beans in the oven only takes about 5 minutes. Then you can make the Brussels sprouts while the beans cook. These recipes easily double so you'll have healthy leftovers, cook once and get meals for days!
Sauteed Brussels sprouts, beans and sausage!
For the Beans you will need:
1 large onion, diced
2 (16-ounce) cans of organic beans - Amy’s Organic brand should be easy to find if you are in a hurry! Or soak and cook your own dried beans.
3 tablespoons of your favorite spicy mustard
2 Tablesppons honey or maple syrup (optional)
4 tablespoons ketchup, we love First Field Ketchup from New Jersey
1 tablespoon Fire Cider or Apple Cider Vinegar
about 1/3 cup lard, olive oil or, my favorite, rendered bacon fat!
To Make:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a Dutch oven mix onion, beans, mustard, maple syrup or honey if using, ketchup, and Fire Cider. Then mix in the fat, I highly recommend rendered bacon fat.
Bake, covered, for 30 minutes.
For the Brussels Sprouts:
In a cast iron pan, cover the bottom with prepared, halved Brussels sprouts. Add a small amount of water, turn the heat up and cover. Steam the sprouts until just tender. Pour off any excess water; add a knob of fresh pasture butter and sauté until golden brown. Deglaze with a splash or two of Fire Cider, add salt to taste.
Add a cooked, sliced sausage from Red Apple Butchers or some Hosta Hill Tempeh to your beans for a balanced, healthy meal.
Fall Favorite: Cauliflower 3 Ways
Curry Fire Cider Marinade
Updated Egg Salad
Dana's Pork or Chicken Stock Recipe
- 5 pounds assorted organic, local farm raised chicken parts (2-3 pounds of feet plus backs, necks, legs, and wings), rinsed. For pork stock, use the bones from your last roast plus several trotters.
- Handful dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 medium carrot, chopped into 2-inch lengths
- 2 celery stalks, chopped into 2-inch lengths
- 2 medium leeks or one onion, chopped into 2-inch chunks
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1-2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar, or 1-2 Cups wine/hard cider
- 2-4 tongue-depressor sized pieces Astragalus root (available from mountainroseherbs.com)
- Small handful dried Reishi and/or Maitake mushroom
- 1-2 ginseng roots
- Place all of the ingredients in a stockpot large enough to hold them with about 3 inches of room above (an 8-quart pot should do) and add enough water to cover by at least 1 inch (about 3 quarts).
- Heat until bubbling, then reduce heat to a bare simmer (bubbles should just gently break the surface). A slow cooker works well for this if you have one. Simmer for 8-48 hours. I think the longer the better.
- Pass stock through a sieve into another bowl or pot, line the sieve with cheesecloth if you want clearer stock. I never bother. Discard the solids, I recommend composting them, or feed to your chickens.
- You can use the stock for soup right now, yummmm!
- If you are planning to store it without reducing it, stick it in the fridge or freezer. The fat will rise to the top as it cools, and you can remove it, or leave it in. You can also boil the stock uncovered and reduce it by as much as 90%. This makes for easier storage of large amounts of stock concentrate.
- Note: I use ice cube trays to freeze cooled stock. Then I keep the cubes in a container in the freezer for use whenever I need. It’s easy to make a cup of hot broth by adding cubes to a mug with boiling water or throw a bunch into soups. Sometimes I sauté greens until almost done, then add a cube of stock to finish for extra flavor and health benefits.
Grilled Chili Shrimp
- 2 red chili peppers chopped
- 3 tablespoons Fire Cider
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 2 lbs raw shrimp, peeled
- 2 limes squeezed
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- salt and pepper to taste
Instant Green Bean Salad...
Just add green beans!
[caption id="attachment_299" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pretty beans in the garden.[/caption]This is Brian’s raw salad recipe and it's ready to eat in just a few minutes. If you have a garden or know someone who does, chances you've got fresh, crispy green beans in your fridge or backyard right now. I love to eat them raw, straight off the plant, something I started doing as a kid, grazing in my dad's garden. If you want to fancy up your beans a bit, try this:
Grab a couple of fistfuls of fresh raw green beans and cut each one into bit sized pieces. Chop up some red onion and colorful bell pepper. Combine all the veggies in a container with a fitted lid, like a wide mouth mason jar.Dress with a drizzle of olive oil to coat plus course ground salt and a healthy splash of Fire Cider.
Put the lid on and shake well to combine all the ingredients.
Eat now or pack it for lunch or a picnic!
Chef Joe Dewey's Avocado and Black Bean Salad
- 2 firm avocados
- 4 large garden fresh tomatoes
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 and 1/2 cup black beans or one 15 ounce can
- 1/2 bunch cilantro (or, if you dislike cilantro, substitute with parsley)
- 2 jalapenos (optional)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons Fire Cider
- juice from 1 lime
- 2 or 3 cloves garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pine Nuts and Parmesan
- 1 pound of Brussels sprouts
- 1/8 cup pine nuts, finely diced
- Fire Cider
- Olive oil
- Parmesan cheese