Loving the Guelph Farmer's Market

A posting of gratitude for my favourite place to buy fresh whole foods, the Guelph Farmer's Market. Farmer's Markets are a fantastic source of locally grown produce, often direct from the growers; healthy prepared foods; local crafts; and a place of community. The Guelph Farmer's Market is back in its original home with new-and-improved-roof, and seasonal green things are once again available in abundance!

What might a naturopath pick up at a Farmer's Market, you ask?  Here are my week's pickings:

• organic dandelion leaves (!!!) - perfect green diuretic addition to a cleansing smoothie!
• organic kale (gone to seed, it looks like a tall, slim rapini)
• 1 lb carrots
• 3 turnips
• free-range chicken from Matt and Armando's farm - some for baking this weekend, some for freezing
• cabbages: 1 green, 1 red
• thick-shelled eggs generously produced by happy hens

Looking forward to using these fresh veggies this week in some rice and lentil dishes...an egg in my gluten-free pancakes...and dandelion and kale in some energizing green smoothies. Health is delicious!

BONUS POINTS for anyone who can name 3 veggies above that provide a dose of the natural cancer-fighter, I-3-C (Indole-3-Carbinol)! (Hint: two are green, one is red).

Thanks again, Guelph Farmer's Market and especially Guelph Farmers!  See you next week.

Make Your Own Almond Milk

Is the cost of almond milk, or the thought of trucking litres upon litres of mostly water from California to your doorstep, or perhaps its thin blandness dragging your enjoyment of a dairy-reduced diet into the mud? Here's an easy and cost-effective way to make your own fresh almond milk and can be adjusted to suit just how you like it. I've developed this quick recipe based on a single serving, so multiply as needed based on number of servings desired.

RECIPE

What you'll need:

1/2 cup raw almonds
1 cup water (nice and local); or to taste
1/4 tsp. natural vanilla extract (optional)
1/4 tsp. honey or maple syrup (optional)

Soak almonds in water overnight to activate the nuts' natural enzymes. Blend on high. Strain by pouring through a wire strainer* into container or glass of choice. Pour over cereal, into tea or coffee or drink on its own.  Homemade almond milk is a yummy, digestible, cleanse-friendly way to get your calcium boost!

*Tip: use leftover nut bits as a base for pesto, mix into oatmeal, a protein shake or something you're baking....those proteins and fibres are highly nutritious and versatile!

VARIATIONS

Substitute raw cashews or great Canadian hemp hearts (hulled hemp seeds) in the same proportions in this recipe for an even creamier texture.  Play with the proportions of nut/seed to water to make your homemade "milk" thinner or creamier and to vary the flavors.  Nuts and seeds are good sources of protein, beneficial oils, and minerals. Enjoy!

Cooling Summer Sipper

It's a hot one out there! The Landsdowne farmer's market today is astoundingly abundant with gorgeous local produce (thank you, farmers and earth!!), and among my pickings I've brought home some sweet peas in the pod, more irresistibly red rhubarb stalks of the "German wine" variety for making compote, organic beets, carrots, baby onions, pretty rainbow chard, and lean beef produced from happy healthy cows. One of the growers from Roots & Shoots educated me that radish and turnip belong to the same family, AND that family so happens to be Brassicaceae, one of the most important plant families for human food crops. Familia Brassicaceae provides us with broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, kholrabi, mustard, canola...and the list goes on. Overall a very healthy, anti-cancer plant family for we humans to munch veggies from, on a daily basis is possible! Here's an agri-science article on the Brassicaceae of Canada.

I was also fascinated to learn that Swiss chard and beets are actually the SAME species, Beta vulgaris, and the plants will interbreed. Yes, beet greens are definitely edible, delicious and healthy...they can be prepared like chard. I also learned that Romaine lettuce comes in RED!

After all that shopping about I needed a cooling break from the noon hour heat. Here's a simple, refreshing electrolyte replacer to sip on while taking a breather.

In a large drinking glass or pitcher combine:

a few slices of fresh cucumber
a few wedges of lemon
a tiny pinch of sea salt
1-2 tsp maple syrup, honey or molasses per serving
ice cubes (optional)
fill to the brim with cool water, and enjoy!

Cucumber, whether of the English or field variety, is one of the most cooling foods available. Lemon gives us some vitamin C and stimulates digestion, while sea salt and maple syrup/honey/molasses provides trace minerals and glucose (i.e. elecrolytes, which we lose when we sweat and get dehydrated). This drink would also be delicious with a few sprigs of fresh mint, which would enhance the cooling effect.

Sip, sip, sip!

Farmer's Markets

The diet is the basis for our health. Much of what we take in as food quite literally becomes our bodies, as substances we digest and absorb are distributed to various tissues of the body to participate in processes of rebuilding, repairing and regenerating our very cells. Much of our food comes from a long way away, undergoes multiple handling steps from field to grocery store shelf, most of which remains completely unknown and abstract to us as consumers. I've been thinking about this a lot more lately and really appreciating the lovely, local, super fresh produce and ethically raised meats available at our local farmer's markets in Ottawa. Most recently I've cycled down to the Shouldice berry farm to pick my own baskets full of intoxicatingly fragrant strawberries (literally surrounded by STRAW...hmmm!)