We should talk about this. Now, this little baby? I make it a lot. The first time I made it for Michael, he asked me to make it again, immediately. As in, for lunch the next day. If you know him, you’ll know he doesn’t like repeating foods that often.

The reason I love this is multi-fold: 1) It’s just really good. It’s crunchy, salty and sweet. 2) It’s versatile. I have subbed out the carrots for everything from kale to cucumber and broccoli and mixed up everything in between and we love it every time. 3) It’s really good for you. The properties in this salad are very healing. Let me extol the virtues.

Carrots are full of vitamins A and C. These are good for reducing inflammation, increasing bone metabolism and of course, it’s good for your eyes. (Remember when Michael had laser eye surgery? I fed him this for sure. It’s no joke that carrots are good for your eyes!).

Walnuts may be high in fat, but it’s “good” fat. And depending on how you like your diet macros to be, you’ll need some fat anyway. It keeps you feeling full longer and fat in the form of walnut is full of antioxidants.

Turmeric is what gives curry powder its distinctive yellow color. The benefit (depending on what you read) is vast. My dad’s oncologist even suggested he eat more turmeric, curry and ginger because of their healing properties, anti-inflammatory qualities, and possible increase in cell reaction to chemotherapy. Studies have shown a reduction in alzheimer’s disease in populations who consume turmeric, and it’s been known to help with arthritis.

What’s the wonder in tahini? Hidden source of calcium. I know, and I thought it was just a plain old delicious fat source and an ingredient in hummus. Not so. It’s full of B vitamins and a tablespoon is about one third of your daily requirement of calcium. With bones to heal up in our house – we need more calcium!

Aside from that, I pretty much always have these ingredients in the house – including raisins and parsley. I love fresh herbs. So, this is my go-to meal when we have nothing else left in the cabinet. Tends to happen on Wednesday, because Thursday is shopping day, of course.

And if you don’t have carrots, I recommending chopping up whatever you have on hand and just slathering on the tahini dressing. It’s so good, I can’t even really contain myself.

I got the recipe about a year ago from Lunch Box Bunch. I have made it just as directed, with and without tofu, with and without nutritional yeast and so forth. I mainly make it the way I’ve listed below.

Here’s what you do:

• carrots, cut into matchsticks (how many depends on how many people you want to feed. You can just adjust the dressing accordingly later)
• raisins
• chopped walnuts
• parsley

I kind of use a ratio of 5 carrots to 1/4 of raisins and a couple tbsp of walnuts and a palmful of parsley. That would feed both of us, with a protein of some sort on the side (I usually go for hard boiled eggs. My choice for muscle repair.). Adjust as you need to. Put everything into a salad bowl and get working on your dressing.

I use this ratio for one serving of dressing. Increase as you need to.

• 1 tbsp tahini
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp sweet curry powder (I prefer Penzy’s, but you can use any kind you like – even hot curry)
• salt and pepper
• water (to fluff the tahini)

Add tahini, maple syrup, curry, salt and pepper (a pinch of each) to a small bowl. If you haven’t fluffed tahini before – it’s FUN! Add a little water and wisk it up. If it seems like nothing is happening, just keep going. The color will get lighter and the tahini will become thicker and…fluffier. Ha. I add as much water as I need to get a thick dressing consistency. Pour over the salad and mix it up.

That’s about it!

I made a great cole slaw from this week’s kohlrabi and broccoli and thought I would share the recipe. The taste is mild, with sweet and piquant flavors. I served this as a side dish to cold sesame noodles and took both dishes to a picnic at the beach.
1 head kohlrabi, peeled
1 broccoli stem, peeled
1 carrot
1 Tblsp. rice wine vinegar
1 Tblsp. lime juice
2 Tblsp. canola oil
1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 Tblsp. sugar
salt and pepper, to taste

Use a food processor or hand grater to finely julienne the kohlrabi, broccoli stem, and carrot. In a separate bowl, whisk together the rice wine vinegar, lime juice, canola oil, sesame oil, and sugar. Toss the vegetables together with the vinaigrette and salt and pepper to taste. The slaw should be made at least an hour in advance so the vegetables have a chance to “pickle” in the vinaigrette. Garnish with scallions and toasted sesame seeds just before serving, if desired.

My brother-in-law, Mark Ducey, has a talent for taking healthy recipes and turning them into something decidedly less so, but substantially more delicious. Here is his riff on Deborah Madison’s Winter Vegetable Chowder. To make it vegetarian, use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

1) Place in a saucepan:

• 3 cups milk or half & half
• 1 tsp. dried thyme.
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 12 black peppercorns

Bring to a boil then set aside to steep.

2) Wash, peel (as needed) and slice into ½-inch by 1 1/2 inch chunks:

• 4 large leeks
• 3 cups carrots
• 3 cups potatoes
• 3 cups parsnips
• 6 ribs celery

3) Heat ½ stick of butter in a large soup pot. Add veggies from step two, plus 2 bay leaves, 1 ½ tsp. thyme, ½ tsp. lavender, ½ tsp. tarragon. Heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4) Sprinkle the veggies with ¼ cup flour, toss, then add 4 cups chicken stock and 4 cups water. Cover and cook 20-25 minutes.

5) While veggies cook, melt some butter on a cast-iron griddle and grill slices of crusty bread on both sides. Place one slice in the bottom of each serving bowl and cover with grated gruyere.

6) When veggies are tender, strain milk from step 1 into a blender. Add 1 1/2 cups of veggies from the soup and puree. Return puree to pot.

7) Check soup and season to taste with salt and white pepper. Ladle over bread in bowls and serve.

Notes: Fresh herbs (quantity adjusted) would be better if available. I used whole milk; half and half would be better and whipping cream would be ideal.  Should have garnished with fresh thyme sprigs if they were not under the snow.

Start with:

2-3 onions (if you have leeks or shallots sitting in the back of the fridge, even better)
3 carrots,
2 celery stalks,
3-4 garlic
maybe a green pepper

give them a rough chop and throw them in the pot with a good shot of olive oil – low heat and let them sweat while you prepare the rest.  Then peel and cube:

1 or 2 winter squash
2-3 Lbs. potatoes
2-3 Lbs. Sweet Potatoes
2 or 3 Celeriac Heads
1 Turnip or Rutabaga
3 or 4 Apples
A handful of herbs (dry or fresh – I like to use sage, rosemary, thyme)
A couple bay leaves

Add to the pot and just cover with water.  Bring to boil and turn back to a simmer until tender (about an hour).
Use a stick blender to puree (can be done in a food processor or mash for a course texture).
Salt and pepper to taste.
Add 1-2 cups cream or half & half.

Options:
Replacing some of the water with chicken stock or adding a couple handfuls of parmesan will make it a little richer, or if you save your cheese rinds – throw a couple in and remove right before pureeing.