Can you make spiralized cucumber noodles out of regular cucumbers from the grocery store in addition to the English cucumbers? Yes, absolutely! And you can make spiralized noodles from so many other types of vegetables (and even some fruits too).

Why are spiralized vegetables so great? We love them for the variety, texture, and nutrition they bring to our raw dishes along with fun and novelty.

For example, when I was making spiralized zucchini and carrot noodles a couple of nights ago, our 4 ½ year old son became so excited about the zoodles and asked if he could have some with the dressing I was making. Normally, he easily enjoys raw vegetables, but he rarely shows so much enthusiasm for them! He ate an age-appropriate bowl on top of all of his dinner an hour earlier. He said he loved it! Mind you, these are same vegetables he usually eats, just with a different presentation.

Last night I made a cucumber and carrot spiralized noodle dish with a few pieces of spiralized red onion along with added sunflower sprouts and tomato topped with a super simple tahini lemon dressing. He loved that dish too and so did Rick!

April is Spiralized Veggies month in our Raw Vegan Lifetime Success Community where members are learning all about spiralizing: how to, vegetables you can use (and fruits!), and fun recipes to make with all the veggie noodles. The community is also jam-packed with lots of other resources, including our 24-hour comprehensive Creating Nutrient Replete Meals course, Dr. Rick’s upcoming April Juicing program, an exciting new course that will be available in June, and so much more! You can check out the community by clicking on this link: https://www.skool.com/raw-vegan-lifetime-success-7461/about

We invite you to join us!

Here is the salad we posted recently with one of our favorite dressings:

Tomato Walnut Chia Seed Dressing:

2 cups chopped tomato (360 g)

½ cup soaked sundried tomatoes (27 g)

1 soaked medjool date (pit removed) (24 g)

1 tsp. chia seeds (3 g)

¼ cup walnuts (25 g)

¼ tsp. rosemary (optional and not included in nutrient analysis)

And here is the recipe for the salad:

10 cups torn romaine lettuce (470 g)

3 cups chopped dandelion greens (165 g)

1.5 cups grated cucumber (170 g)

1 cup grated carrots (110 g)

1 cup grated yellow summer squash (149 g)

0.5 cup chopped tomato (90 g)

2 ounces of sunflower microgreens (56 g) (about 2 cups)

Sprinkle of chopped mango (optional and not in nutrient analysis)

Nutrient analysis of salad and dressing:

		Adult DRIs – not including pregnancy, lactation, or children
Vitamin B1	1.5 mg	1.1 mg for women, 1.2 mg for men
Vitamin B2	1.5 mg	1.1 mg for women, 1.3 mg for men
Vitamin B3	12.3 mg	14 mg for women, 16 mg for men
Vitamin B5	3.4 mg	5 mg for both men and women
Vitamin B6	2.2 mg	1.3 mg for both 50 and under, 1.5 women over 50, 1.7 men over 50
Choline	211.5 mg	425 mg for women, 550 for men
Folate	946 mcg	400 mcg for both
Vitamin C	199 mg	75 mg for women, 90 mg for men
Vitamin E	12.5 mg	15 mg for both men and women
Calcium	789 mg	1000 mg women 19-50, men 19-70, 1200 mg women 50+, men 70+
Iron	34.4 mg	18 mg pre-menopausal women 8 mg for men and post-menopausal women
Magnesium	424 mg	310 mg 19-30 year-old women 320 mg 31+ year-old-women 400 mg 19-30 year-old men 420 mg for 31+ year-old-men
Potassium	5477 mg	2600 mg for women, 3400 mg for men
Selenium	31 mcg	55 mcg for both women and men
Zinc	5.9 mg	8 mg for women, 11 mg for men

We think of dressings as being nutritional extra credit, which is why we love to make thick, hearty dressings with raw whole pant foods. If you compare the nutrient content of this salad and dressing to the salad alone from our post from one week ago, you can see the nutrient difference made by the addition of this dressing! And we love the flavor the dressing adds to the salad.

In this salad and dressing we have 100% of the DRIs for Vitamins B1, B2, B6, Folate, Vitamin A RAE, Vitamin C, Iron, Magnesium, and Potassium. We have 50% of the DRI for choline, 69% of the DRI for Vitamin B5, 83% of the DRI for Vitamin E, 66% of the DRI for Calcium for women 51+ and men 70+ (79% for women 19 – 50 and men 19 – 70), 57% of the DRI for selenium and 73% of the DRI for women (54% for men).

Enjoy!

We got some sunflower greens (a.k.a. sunflower microgreens) recently at our wholesale produce market and they are incredibly delicious and vibrant looking!

A few weeks ago, I shared about sunflower microgreens as being a surprising source of selenium, so here is one of our favorite salads with 2 ounces of sunflower microgreens added:

10 cups torn romaine lettuce (470 g)

3 cups chopped dandelion greens (165 g)

1.5 cups grated cucumber (170 g)

1 cup grated carrots (110 g)

1 cup grated yellow summer squash (149 g)

0.5 cup chopped tomato (90 g)

2 ounces of sunflower microgreens (56 g) (about 2 cups)

Sprinkle of chopped purple cabbage (not in nutrient analysis)

Nutrient analysis of salad:

		Adult DRIs – not including pregnancy, lactation, or children
Vitamin B1	1.1 mg	1.1 mg for women, 1.2 mg for men
Vitamin B2	1.2 mg	1.1 mg for women, 1.3 mg for men
Vitamin B3	2.1 mg	14 mg for women, 16 mg for men
Vitamin B5	2.1 mg	5 mg for both men and women
Vitamin B6	1.4 mg	1.3 mg for both 50 and under, 1.5 women over 50, 1.7 men over 50
Choline	144.8 mg	425 mg for women, 550 for men
Folate	818 mcg	400 mcg for both
Vitamin C	135 mg	75 mg for women, 90 mg for men
Vitamin E	9.5 mg	15 mg for both men and women
Calcium	630 mg	1000 mg women 19-50, men 19-70, 1200 mg women 50+, men 70+
Iron	23.4 mg	18 mg pre-menopausal women 8 mg for men and post-menopausal women
Magnesium	245 mg	310 mg 19-30 year-old women 320 mg 31+ year-old-women 400 mg 19-30 year-old men 420 mg for 31+ year-old-men
Potassium	3294 mg	2600 mg for women, 3400 mg for men
Selenium	19 mcg	55 mcg for both women and men
Zinc	3.5 mg	8 mg for women, 11 mg for men

If one added an extra ounce (about one cup loosely packed) of sunflower microgreens to this salad, the selenium content of the salad would increase to 27 mcg, which is almost half (48%) of the adult selenium RDA of 55 mcg! This is especially good news for raw food enthusiasts who have sensitivities to Brazil nuts, a concentrated source of selenium, as one 5 g Brazil nut has been measured to contain 96 mcg of selenium (174% of the adult RDA for selenium).

Enjoy!

Lemon season is here! We have hundreds of lemons on our bushes right now and so we blended the juice of 2 lemons with the flesh of 2 young coconuts and poured the mixture into cupcake cups lined with mixed walnuts and dates (blended with an S blade in the food processor) as the crust.

We then put the cupcakes in the refrigerator for about 6 hours after which about half were hardened enough to remove from the cupcake cups and eat – they were so good! We put the remaining cupcakes into the freezer for 3 hours after which the cupcakes were easy to remove from the cupcake cups and eat. Between the filling and crust, I found these cupcakes to be a good mix of sweet and tart flavor, which I love. This being said, if you like a sweeter cupcake, you can add a couple of dates to the filling mixture prior to blending.

If you are looking to create a lower fat dessert or have a challenging time finding young coconuts, you can substitute bananas for the coconut, which we do often as coconuts are a treat for us – we tend to have them around the holidays for some of the holiday desserts we make, and only rarely have them the rest of the year.

Here is the precise recipe:

Recipe for the crust: We blended one cup of walnuts with 4 medjool dates with pits removed (both ingredients rinsed and checked for debris) in a food processor until chunky as seen in this photo.

Filling: We blended the juice of two small lemons with the flesh of two large young coconuts in a high-power blender and poured the mixture into the cupcake molds with crust. You can add a date or two to this filling for a sweeter flavor. We put the cupcakes in the refrigerator for 3 hours and then into the freezer for two hours (or just the freezer for 3 hours). Delicious!

Enjoy!

Here is one of my favorite smoothies:

3 medium bananas, peels removed (354 g)

1 medium orange, peel removed (131 g)

¼ cup blueberries (37 g)

1 mango, peel and pit removed (336 g)

¼ cup strawberry (38 g)

⅛ cup raspberry (15.4 g)

3 cups kale (63 g)

Nutrient Content of this Smoothie:

		Adult DRIs - not including pregnancy, lactation, or children
Vitamin B1	0.5 mg	1.1 mg for women, 1.2 mg for men
Vitamin B2	0.4 mg	1.1 mg for women, 1.3 mg for men
Vitamin B3	6.1 mg	14 mg for women, 16 mg for men
Vitamin B5	2.5 mg	5 mg for both men and women
Vitamin B6	1.4 mg	1.3 mg for both 50 and under, 1.5 women over 50, 1.7 men over 50
Choline	77.8 mg	425 mg for women, 550 for men
Folate	287.0 mcg	400 mcg for both
Vitamin C	324.1 mg	75 mg for women, 90 mg for men
Vitamin E	4.7 mg	15 mg for both men and women
Calcium	281.9 mg	1000 mg women 19-50, men 19-70, 1200 mg women 50+, men 70+
Magnesium	177.2 mg	310 mg 19-30 year-old women 320 mg 31+ year-old-women 400 mg 19-30 year-old men 420 mg for 31+ year-old-men
Potassium	2291.2 mg	2600 mg for women, 3400 mg for men
Zinc	1.3 mg	8 mg for women, 11 mg for men

I just love the simplicity and the beautiful flavors. Enjoy!

Happy 2026 Everyone!

I’m putting together a list of topics to cover this year in posts, articles, and videos. Is there a particular nutrition-related topic you would like to learn about this year? If so, please comment below and I’ll add it to my list!

By the way, this smoothie was really good! It is made of 2 ½ bananas, 2 cups of dandelion greens, and 2 oranges. The design on the top is composed of ½ of one banana cut into slices, ½ of one ripe persimmon, one small strawberry, and 1/8 tsp. of coconut flakes.

Here are some of the nutrients:

Vitamin B1 0.7 mg

Vitamin B2 0.4 mg

Vitamin B3 4.3 mg

Vitamin B5 2.2 mg

Vitamin B6 1.3 mg

Choline 102.4 mg

Folate 166.3 mcg

Vitamin C 231.9 mg

Vitamin E 5.5 mg

Vitamin K1 858.9 mcg

Calcium 336.2 mg

Magnesium 173.6 mg

Potassium 2212.6 mg

Sodium 84.5 mg

Zinc 1.3 mg

Almost all of these values are pretty impressive for almost 550 calories, including the B vitamins, choline, folate, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K1, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc!

We’ve found smoothies to be a super easy and quick way to enjoy fruit and leafy greens. We mostly enjoy eating our fruit non-blended, but smoothies are one of my go-to breakfasts when I have a busy day ahead of me and find them to be especially filling for hours with the addition of leafy greens.

I love celery juice and have been drinking it on and off for decades, long before it ever became popular. On numerous occasions, I’ve been asked about the nutrient content of celery juice and I’m happy to say that it looks like some information on it is now available!

Here is a sampling of the micronutrients found in 16 ounces (448 ml) of celery juice:

Vitamin B1 0.1 mg

Vitamin B2 0.3 mg

Vitamin B3 1.5 mg

Vitamin B5 1.2 mg

Vitamin B6 0.2 mg

Choline 28.8 mg

Folate 169.9 mcg

Vitamin C 14.6 mg

Vitamin E 1.2 mg

Vitamin K1 136.9 mcg

Calcium 217.2 mg

Magnesium 51.9

Potassium 1250.8 mg

Sodium 457.8 mg

Zinc 0.4 mg

A significant number of these values are exceptional, especially calcium! Very often I’m asked about good sources of calcium and other important nutrients, which is one of the many reasons we created our 24-hour course Creating Nutrient Replete Meals that covers all the important nutrients (they’re all important), what foods they are found in (especially foods that are easy to find in grocery stores), and how to create nutrient-dense recipes and meal plans. This course is now available in our Raw Vegan Lifetime Success Community. There are lots of other resources available in this community, which is soon to include Dr. Rick’s New Years Juice Cleanse that starts on January 5th! Click this link for more information about the community and registration: https://www.skool.com/raw-vegan-lifetime-success-7461/about

When you join the community, you’ll automatically have access to the juice program information as it becomes available, including juice recipes, along with live check-ins and presentations, and recordings of live segments after they are complete. If you are already a member of our Raw Vegan Lifetime Success Community, great! If not, we hope to see you there!

Looking for a quick, delicious recipe? Here’s a super-simple recipe that you can make in minutes (this one takes us about 15 min)!

Ingredients:

2 medium bananas

2 medium strawberries (or 8 raspberries)

2 medjool or other type of dates

0.5 oz walnuts (1/8 cup, 13 g)

Peel bananas and cut each of them in half. Then pull them apart into their individual three sections – you should now have 12 banana sections (6 for each banana). Line up 4 banana sections on a plate as shown in the photo:

Next, blend 4 banana sections with the 2 dates and walnuts. Then, spread this mixture on top of the banana sections as shown:

Place the remaining 4 banana sections on top of the banana-date-walnut mixture:

Slice strawberries (or raspberries) and arrange on top of the bananas. You can add a mint sprig if desired.

For a lower fat version or well-combined version, you can leave out the walnuts.

Enjoy!

Here is a super-simple, well-combined fruity dessert/addition to a fruit-based meal that we really like:

Ingredients:

Two large ripe bananas

4 dates (pits removed)

6 or 7 blueberries

4 or 5 strawberries

One medium apple

Preparation instructions we followed:

Rinse apple and remove core. Grate apple using a coarse grain grater into a bowl. Line 6-8 cupcake cups (we used silicone ones) with the grated apple pieces. Put aside.

Next, remove peels and place bananas into blender. Add dates and blend until smooth. Pour off approximately half of the mixture into a bowl. Add 3 rinsed strawberries to the remaining mixture in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour this mixture immediately into apple-lined cupcake cups, cover, and refrigerate.

Clean blender and add the remaining banana date mixture and 4 rinsed blueberries to the blender. Blend until smooth and immediately pour mixture into remaining apple-lined cupcake cups. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. This amount of time will allow the cupcakes to become firm enough to be removed from the cupcake cups. Freezing for 3 to 4 hours works well too. Add strawberry and blueberry garnish/design to top of the cupcakes right before serving.

Makes 6 to 8 average-sized cupcakes.

Enjoy!

Additional preparation tips: Adding some chia seeds to the banana/strawberry/date and banana/blueberry/date mixtures before blending may help the cupcakes harden quicker. Also, using bananas that are slightly less-ripe will have a similar result.

I love dandelion greens! I love the bitterness. I love their crunchy texture. But what I love the most about dandelion greens is their nutritional value - their mineral content is especially notable:

3 cups chopped dandelion greens (165 g)

Calcium 309 mg

Iron 5.1 mg

Zinc 0.70 mg

Potassium 655 mg

Magnesium 59 mg

As one can see, the leaves of this plant often regarded as a garden weed have significant nutritional value. In addition, dandelion greens are known for their prebiotic fiber content specifically inulin. Three cups of dandelion greens contain almost 20 g of inulin!

Even though there is not a daily value for prebiotic fiber yet, there are established DRIs (specifically Adequate Intakes – AIs) for total fiber:

• 25 g for women (21 g over 50 years of age)

• 38 g for men (30 g over 50 years of age)

To put these numbers in perspective, most Americans get around 15 g of total fiber per day. Standard western diets tend to be lower in fruits, vegetables, and whole plant foods in general so this number is not surprising.

Despite all these benefits of dandelion greens, people often shy away from them because of their concern that dandelion greens may contain goitrogens. Goitrogens are largely (but not completely) found in the cabbage family (Brassicaceae) and certain other foods, but are not found in dandelion greens, which are found in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Want to learn more about goitrogens?

The dandelion greens I planted last spring are still growing well in my garden, despite it being late December, so today I picked a large handful and put them in this smoothie:

3 bananas

2 cups chopped dandelion greens

2 medium oranges

2 cups mangoes

Strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry garnishes

It was delicious.

And if you want to learn more about raw food plant-based nutrition, please feel free to sign up for our email list in the right column on this webpage. When you do so, you can receive our Top 12 Strategies for Long-Term Success on a Raw Food Diet eBook!

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a post about a selenium alternative to Brazil nuts. After all, one average-sized (5 gram) Brazil nut reportedly has almost 96 mcg (micrograms) or 174% of the adult RDA for selenium, which is 55 mcg.

But what if someone is allergic or sensitive to Brazil nuts? What’s a good alternative? Broccoli sprouts are known for their sulforaphane content, but a lesser-known benefit of them is their selenium content. 2 ounces of broccoli sprouts has been measured to contain 28.3 mcg of selenium! This number is notable when compared to the adult selenium RDA of 55 mcg.

I do want to be clear though that this information was just from one entry on Cronometer, and not all broccoli sprout entries on nutrient databases may be in perfect agreement with this number and/or may not have been tested for selenium. Nonetheless, I thought this information was fascinating and thought that you might be interested, especially those of you with Brazil nut or general tree nut sensitivities.

In our new class, Creating Nutrient Replete Meals, we talk about selenium sources and sources of other important nutrients too. The course is $99 and along with it you get a yearly membership in our Raw Vegan Lifetime Success Community. You can learn more and register for the course by clicking here: https://www.skool.com/raw-vegan-lifetime-success-7461/about

We all know that standard holiday fare, especially desserts, can easily contain a notable amount of long-chain saturated fats and omega 6 fats. But what if desert could be rich in omega 3 fats? Here’s a holiday version of chia pudding – with a cherry mint flavor and holiday colors:

Cherry Mint Chia Pudding

¾ cup freshly made walnut milk (or nut/seed milk of your choice)

3 tsp chia seeds

1 medjool date (or more if you want a sweeter pudding)

4 medium peppermint leaves

3 cherries (pits removed)

Mint sprig decoration on top (optional)

Here’s how I made it:

Blend the date with ¾ cup of walnut milk until smooth. Pour equal amounts of this mixture into three separate small mason jars. Add 1 tsp. chia seeds to one of the jars, stir until the seeds are well distributed, then cover and put in refrigerator for 8 hours. This mixture will be the white layer. Next, add the three cherries and the contents of one of the remaining walnut milk/date mixtures to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into a clean small mason jar, add 1 tsp. chia seeds, stir until the seeds are well distributed, then cover and put in refrigerator for 8 hours. This will be the red layer. Clean blender carafe and add the 4 medium peppermint leaves to the blender carafe along with the remaining walnut milk/date mixture. Blend until smooth and pour this mixture into a clean small mason jar, add 1 tsp. chia seeds, stir until the seeds are well distributed, then cover and put in refrigerator for 8 hours. This will be the green layer.

After the chia puddings have become relatively firm, layer the 3 colors in small glasses of your choice. Chill and serve.

Serves 2-4 or more depending on the size of the glasses used. I’ve found this pudding to be quite rich-tasting so glasses about half the size of the 5-inch ones shown in this photo would be plenty for most people.

I rinse the chia seeds before adding them to the walnut milk/date mixture to remove debris and small stones. I also clean/rinse all other ingredients before using.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Whenever someone asks me for a good source of selenium, my quick answer is Brazil nuts. After all, one average-sized (5 gram) Brazil nut reportedly has almost 96 mcg (micrograms) or 174% of the adult RDA for selenium, which is 55 mcg.

But what if someone is allergic or sensitive to Brazil nuts? What’s a good alternative? Sunflower seeds are a decent source of selenium too at almost 19 mcg per quarter-cup (34% of the adult RDA), but who is going to eat this many sunflower seeds? I had a thought that maybe some of the selenium in sunflower seeds could be transferred into sunflower microgreens during the sprouting and growth process and here’s what I found:

3 ounces of sunflower microgreens, which is about the size of a large handful, has been measured to contain just over 23 mcg of selenium (42% of the RDA). That’s pretty good! This amount of selenium can potentially make a significant contribution to one’s selenium intake.

I do want to be clear though that this information was just from one entry on Cronometer, and not all sunflower microgreen entries on nutrient databases may be in perfect agreement with this number and/or may not have been tested for selenium. Nonetheless, I thought this information was fascinating and thought that you might be interested, especially those of you with Brazil nut or general tree nut sensitivities.

In our new class, Creating Nutrient Replete Meals, we talk about selenium sources and sources of other important nutrients too. The course is $99 and along with it you get a yearly membership in our Raw Vegan Lifetime Success Community. You can learn more and register for the course by clicking here: https://www.skool.com/raw-vegan-lifetime-success-7461/about

Or also known as Tropical Punch!

We actually discovered this recipe by accident – but it sure was a happy one!

Several years ago, we purchased an upright manual citrus press to make citrus juice easier than the hand-held press we had been using for many years. The press worked so beautifully that we thought it would be fun to juice pomegranates in the press too, which ended up being a game changer for making and enjoying our beloved pomegranate juice!

On one occasion when we were making both pomegranate and orange juice in the press, we mixed the two and were astounded to find the taste similar to our old childhood favorite from growing up in the 1970s – Hawaiian Punch – which was super popular among kids our age back then.

We call our version tropical punch and it consists of 3 parts orange juice and 1 part pomegranate juice. So, if you wanted to make a cup (8 ounces) of tropical punch, the recipe would be ¾ cup of fresh squeezed orange juice mixed with ¼ cup of fresh pomegranate juice.

For a cool visual effect, pour the pomegranate juice into the orange juice in a clear glass and watch it settle on the bottom of the glass creating a gradation between the red and orange juices – it makes for a beautiful presentation!

Cheers!

Choline sources is a popular question we’re asked these days, especially from people eating high-fruit diets. The typical answer we give is certain vegetables such as cauliflower and many others, but one very popular fruit in the raw food community can actually be a notable source of choline when eaten in quantity.

And that fruit is mango! In fact, one mango with the seed and skin removed, has over 25 mg of choline. In general, when I have seen people in the high-fruit community eating mangoes, they are usually eating them in quantities larger than this, such as 2, 3, 4 or more mangos. So if one eats for example, 3 mangoes, they are having just over 75 mg of choline. That’s pretty decent for a fruit!

I love smoothies, so here is one of my higher-choline smoothies:

1 mango, seed and skin removed

1 cup chopped cauliflower

3 medium bananas, peel removed

1 cup chopped kale

Two oranges, peels removed

Mint and raspberry garnish

This smoothie has 130 mg of choline! That’s a great start toward meeting the DRI (AI) for choline which is 425 mg for women and 550 mg for men.

Enjoy!

In our new class, Creating Nutrient Replete Meals, we talk about choline source and sources of other important nutrients too. The course is $99 and along with it you get a yearly membership in our Raw Vegan Lifetime Success Community. You can learn more and register for the course by clicking here: https://www.skool.com/raw-vegan-lifetime-success-7461/about  

Thanksgiving and the holidays are right around the corner! We know it can be a challenge to eat healthfully around the holidays, especially when there may be little time for menu planning. This year is like that for us.
🥥
Fortunately we can lean on one of our favorite holiday desserts that we have shared at holiday parties and family gatherings for years. It’s relatively easy to make and has been one of the first to disappear with requests for more – even among our conventionally eating relatives 🙂
🥮
It’s our coconut persimmon pie. You can get the recipe for this and more of our simple, delicious, whole raw food recipes!

Here is the recipe:

Pie Crust for Coconut Persimmon Pie

½ cup chia seeds (70 g, 2.5 oz.)

1 cup shredded dehydrated coconut (93 g, 3.28 oz.)

3 small Fuyu persimmons (250 g, 8.8 oz.)

Grind chia seeds in a clean coffee grinder (we have a coffee grinder we use exclusively for grinding seeds) until a meal-like texture is achieved. Blend persimmons in a food processor until homogenized but still a little chunky. Stir chia meal, coconut, and persimmon mixture together in a bowl. Press crust mix into a pie plate. To avoid the pie crust sticking to the bottom of the pie plate, sprinkle some shredded coconut onto the bottom of the pie plate before pressing crust into the plate. Please note: This pie crust is not super-sweet. If you desire a sweeter pie crust, please see the pumpkin pie crust recipe presented later in this eBook.

Coconut Persimmon Pie Filling

Meat of 4 young coconuts (490 g, 17.28 oz.)

6 small Fuyu persimmons (500 g, 17.64 oz.)

2 ripe fresh bananas with skins removed (236 g, 8.32 oz.)

Cut slices of banana and place in bottom of pie crust. Mix coconut and persimmons in high-power blender until completely smooth and pour coconut/persimmon mixture over bananas. Chill for at least two hours before serving.

Preparation strategy: It is best to have the pie crust with banana slices ready before mixing the coconut and persimmons in the high-power blender, since the coconut-persimmon mixture gels quickly after blending. You want the gelling of the ingredients to take place in the pie crust instead of in the blender. If the mixture gels in the blender, simply re-blend the mixture until smooth and pour it into the pie crust immediately. The filling for this pie also makes a great pudding!
🥰
We wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!

One of the many things I love about fall is pomegranate season! And I love making fresh pomegranate juice with my citrus press juicer – the juice made with this juicer is a rich red color as the seeds are left behind with the pulp. Lately I’ve been reading about the many health benefits of pomegranate, including the numerous phytochemicals therein and their role in mitigating inflammation. Here is a sampling of a few:

💥 Punicalagins – Powerful antioxidants that help reduce oxidative stress and block inflammatory enzymes like COX-2

🍒 Anthocyanins – These give pomegranate its red color and help stop inflammation by blocking key pathways (like NF-κB) that trigger immune responses.

❤️ Ellagic Acid – Helps to lessen the production of inflammatory molecules in our body.

🌱 Flavonoids such as Quercetin & Kaempferol which are known for reducing inflammatory cytokines helping to keep inflammation in check.

🍊 Vitamin C – Supports one’s immune system while fighting oxidative damage, helping to reduce overall inflammation.

Together, these compounds work to protect our cells, support one’s immune system, and fight chronic inflammation! It goes without saying that consuming a diet rich in foods that don’t create inflammation in the first place such as various plant foods and avoidance of those that do so, is the first preference. But as we can see here, fresh pomegranates and juice can be a great adjunct to a low-inflammation or anti-inflammatory diet.
🍷
I especially love straight pomegranate juice when it is not too astringent. I also love it mixed with orange juice or in my post-workout smoothies!
🤸
Enjoy!

THIS was surprisingly delicious! And beautifully simple…
🍌
We have many lemons growing in our yard right now along with lots of bananas in our freezer. Put the two together on a hot July day and you get lemon banana nice cream!
🍋
We froze a small lemon (skin and seeds removed) and then ran it through our champion juicer, with the blank attachment in place of the juicing screen, with three medium frozen bananas and the resulting ice cream had the consistency of a lemon sorbet. If you love lemons and bananas, this is a real treat.
🍓
We added a strawberry from our garden for the design on top. So good!
❤️
Enjoy!

We found a beautiful papaya at our favorite natural foods store the other day and our 3 ½ year old was so excited to have some!! In his own words, it was ‘yummy, yummy’ as he says for all foods he loves. I put some papaya along with mango and strawberry on the top of this equally delish green smoothie:

• 4 medium bananas (472 g)
• 1 medium orange (131 g)
• 4 small leaves of kale (40 g)
• ¾ cup chopped mango (124 g)

On top of the smoothie:

• ¼ cup strawberries (55 g)
• ¼ cup papaya (50 g)
• ¼ cup mango (41 g)
• Fresh peppermint sprig

Nutrient analysis:

	Nutrient Content	Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) – not including pregnancy and lactation or children
Calories	634
Vitamin B1	0.5 mg	1.1 mg for women 1.2 mg for men
Vitamin B2	0.3 mg	1.1 mg for women 1.3 mg for men
Vitamin B3	5.5 mg	14 mg for women 16 mg for men
Vitamin B5	2.5 mg	5 mg for both men and women
Vitamin B6	1.4 mg	1.3 mg for both men and women 50 and under 1.5 mg for women over 50 1.7 mg for men over 50
Folate	232 mcg	400 mcg for both men and women
Vitamin A (RAE)	233 mcg	700 mcg RAE for women 900 mcg RAE for men
Vitamin C	283 mg	75 mg for women 90 mg for men
Vitamin E	3.0 mg	15 mg for both men and women
Calcium	216 mg	1,000 mg 19-70 year-old men and 19-50 year-old women. 1,200 mg 70+ year-old men and 50+ year-old women.
Iron	1.6 mg	18 mg pre-menopausal women 8 mg for men and post-menopausal women
Magnesium	193 mg	310 mg 19-30 year-old women 320 mg 31+ year-old-women 400 mg 19-30 year-old men 420 mg for 31+ year-old-men
Potassium	2379 mg	2,600 mg for women 3,400 mg for men   (used to be 4,700 mg for each)
Zinc	1.3 mg	8 mg for women 11 mg for men

You can add more strawberries or other berries to the blended portion of the smoothie to increase the already notable nutrient content even more. Concerned about blending bananas with berries because of polyphenol oxidase? We’ll be talking about this controversial topic on our webinar next week.

Stay tuned!