Tumeric Elixir

Make this powdered magic Tumeric Elixir to calm inflammation and provide energy. Adjustable for immediate drinking or storage. 

Description

Sometimes we don’t have access to fresh turmeric but still NEED the magical energy of turmeric to heal our spirit or help with inflammation.  Not to worry — dry turmeric has similar properties and is just as easy to work with.  I love this elixir so much — I often keep the base ready to use, so I can make the tea even quicker.  

I have been drinking this my whole life.  The initial part I was forced! Now as an adult – I relish the tea. Now it is soothing and uplifting.   Looking back, I know that this must be one of the reasons that as children we were rarely sick.  Now I have it often, especially if I feel run down, emotionally or physically.  

When you look at the directions, many people think that the ghee part is strange.  I know it’s off-putting.  I understand.  Believe me, you won’t taste it.  It helps to magnify the properties of turmeric and basically, let’s turmeric do what it needs to do!  The concoction comes together quickly and in no time, you will be enjoying a warming and healing cup of homemade turmeric tea.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons dry turmeric

1 Tablespoon of organic ghee

1 Tablespoon dry ginger

A couple shakes or grinds of black pepper or 9 peppercorns

4 cups of fresh water

2 Tablespoons fresh local honey

Juice of a half a lemon

Fresh mint

Steps

  1. In a small pot, add the ghee and put the flame to low heat.  As it warms, add the turmeric to let it bloom and its powers manifest.  Stir slowly and carefully.  Add the ginger and black pepper.  Stir some more.  This will all come together in a matter of minutes.
  1. Once you can smell an intense earthiness, this is the BASE.   You can let it cool, put it into a glass jar, and spoon out as needed.  Use within the  week.  You can store it outside on the counter, ready to be enjoyed.

If drinking now:

  1. Add in the water and increase the heat to medium.  Let it come to a rolling boil and then lower the heat, letting in heat for 20 minutes.   Add the fresh mint.  
  2. Take the pot off the heat.  Add fresh lemon juice.  Slowly pour a bit into a mug, add the honey and stir well.  Fill the cup –breath deeply.  Grounding yourself, take a full breath and set an intention for the rest of your day.  Will you approach the rest of your day with an assumption of the positive?  Will you remember the abundance that you already have?  WIll you KNOW in your soul that good things come to you? 

Magical Green Sauce

This flavor-packed, homemade signature sauce will quickly become a staple for spicing up leftovers, saucing your chicken, dressing your salads, or dipping. A few simple ingredients bring a punch of flavor with this magical green sauce. 

Description

Are you looking for a simple and flavor-packed sauce?  This herby flavorful sauce This is just the sauce to spice up a bland leftovers lunch bowl, a night when you are using a rotisserie chicken as the main meal, or any time you are eating and want a boost of happiness!  

Besides big flavor, it’s an ideal way to use up extra herbs that are about the wilt and come to a sad, slow demise. We hate to waste at The Healthy Family Table and this recipe is the superhero that will help you stop the bad habit of wasting.  Ultra-flexible, it’s the perfect way to mix and match herbs based on the flavors you love.

Is it just me…I don’t know why, but when I make a SAUCE, I just feel so EXTRA!! Extra chef-y, extra fancy, and just all-around EXTRA SPECIAL.

There is an amazing restaurant in our neighborhood in the West Village in New York City called Barbuto, by Chef Jonathon Waxman.  It’s the most exquisite — on a corner, with walls that are big almost garage doors that open up — making it indoor and outdoor all at once.  I always feel completely LUCKY that it’s always written up as the neighborhood restaurant that you WISH was on your corner.  We were that lucky family that had it on our corner.  Some of our friends and neighbors joked and called it their kitchen.  We didn’t go there as often as the Prince’s or Wilson’s, but we loved it still.  Dogs are more than welcome, and usually, they will find a new friend.  Our puppy Khushi loved walking by for a warm pet from a new friend and hopefully some tidbits of Chef Waxman’s world-famous chicken.  We went to celebrate: Birthdays.  A friend coming to town.  A friend coming from uptown! A Tuesday night. To discuss our kids and what they most needed from us. Meeting up with our other neighbors. We went there to celebrate our daughter getting into City and Country. We went there to celebrate our son getting into Packer Collegiate High School.  All to say, this restaurant, this sauce, is part of the fabric of our family.

While this is not Chef Waxman’s green sauce — his is perfection – this is perfect in its own way.  PRO TIP: I always, always ask for an extra sauce when I order his juicy flavorful chicken, but it’s my very delicious version. Truly — It’s magical! It definitely saves a dinner.  It will most certainly save a sad desk lunch. And just smelling it will LIFT your spirits.  It’s that magical.

Inhale the intoxicating earthy scent of cilantro, the aromatic scent of basil…feel grounded, thank Mother Earth, and say a very specific thing that you feel grateful for.  

You can thin it out with EVOO and use as a salad dressing.

You can thicken it up with full-fat whole milk yogurt, add some fresh chives and parsley and use it like a tangy homemade ranch.

You can stir some with Tahini and use it as a thick spread on a sandwich or as another sauce.  

The possibilities are endless….

Equipment

High-Speed blender or food processor

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of herbs — it can be a mix of parsley, cilantro, basil, mint, dill, chives, fennel fronds
  • 1 clove of garlic  
  • ½ cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 anchovy filet — optional
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Steps

  1. Add one clove of garlic to a mug with hot water to soften the heat and bite of the garlic.  
  1. In a blender or a Vitamix, add herbs, garlic clove, lemon juice, anchovy, and cover with the EVOO.  Blend until it’s come together as a sauce. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
  1. Sit in AMAZEMENT at how fancy and CHEF-Y you are!

Substitutions

If you don’t have all the herbs, not a worry.  It will have a different flavor– but it will still be absolutely delicious.

Storage

This stores well for a week or so.  I like to keep this in the fridge in a mason jar AT ALL TIMES.  

Lucky Leftovers

This is such a handy sauce and it is like a sexy chameleon – it can add flavor and depth to many things.  You can thin it out with EVOO and use as a salad dressing.  You can thicken it up with full-fat whole milk yogurt, add some fresh chives and parsley and use it like a tangy homemade ranch.  You can stir some with Tahini and use it as a thick spread on a sandwich or as another sauce.  

HEALTHY HINT: you can barely taste one anchovy and it adds so much flavor, I really encourage you to try it once.  I have a feeling you will love it so much that the next time you will CONFIDENTLY add two!

CCF tea – AKA Your Digestion’s Bestie Tea (Cumin, Coriander, and Fennel Tea)

If you are seeking an herbal tea to adopt into your routine to aide and soothe your digestion track, Cumin Coriander Fennel Tea is the perfect elixir. Quick and simple to make with good, whole ingredients, this tea will ensure everything is running smoothly and at an optimum level.

Did you overeat? Are you feeling bloated? This is a simple, quick herbal tea infusion to make for yourself to get your digestion back on track.  When used regularly, it helps your digestion work at an optimal level. It’s the simple and powerful trick that you always wanted!

This herbal infusion is an old ayurvedic recipe to aid in digestion. I remember my mother making it for us whenever we had a stomache–usually after too much Halloween candy or too much COTTON CANDY from a carnival. 

I started incorporating it into my life again when I began my Ayurveda studies in my 40’s – having completely forgotten how powerful it is.  I won’t lie.  It was certainly not love at first sight.  The first time I thought….hmmmm.  This isn’t what I want to be drinking.. However, SHE PREVAILED, as we now know say! 

I love how it promotes healthy digestion, and helps with the discomfort of indigestion, or too much eating.  I try to live a balanced life — but I am very human and NOT PERFECT.  I have eaten too much at that delicious restaurant I have been trying to go to for months!  You know the one…that makes the delicate pasta by hand.  Or had a few too many bites of my mother in law’s flavorful chicken biryani. Or too many bites of my daughter Anisa’s homemade chocolate pudding…it is so silky and luscious. 

It’s this magical potion that saves me EVERY TIME.  This tea has so many benefits that make it worth adding to your daily habits. Or, you can also just incorporate it when you “need it the most”, for example after a too heavy to digest meal or a meal that you indulged in too much!  CCF Magical Tea to the rescue.  Even too much of a balanced and healthy meal can cause digestive distress. This Ayurveda tea is here to save the day by doing wonders for your gut health.

Confession —  It may take some getting used to the taste, it’s a very different taste than most of us are used to.  It is not going to taste like your usual mint tea!  But it really does the JOB!  Believe me – it’s a gamechanger.  An easy new habit to add into your daily practice, have this tea daily for 7 days and see how you feel.  You will feel lighter and less bloated, I promise.  

I know it sounds strange…these are spices I cook with (or don’t cook with! Ha ha!).  How can this be tea? Technically, it’s more of an infusion.  The combination of these three spices come together and create something bigger with profoundly healing properties.  It’s one of those, wow! If I had known it could be so easy, I would have done it years ago. 

Healthy Hint to make your life easier – Once I mix a jar of this, I  keep it right there with all my teas. Let them be tea Besties!  It makes it much quicker to have it when I need it and it lasts several months.

In the beginning, I advise you to try it a few times, maybe make it a few different ways as your taste buds adjust.  I drink this many afternoons, it’s especially comforting during the first chilly days of Fall.  I like to add a tiny taste of local honey and some fresh lemon, especially in the beginning as you get adjusted to this taste.  You can also add a sprig of fresh mint from your garden.

Luckily, we live in a world where many spices are available at local supermarkets.  Most likely, you will be able to find all three spices at your Whole Foods, Kroger’s, Ralph’s, Gristede’s or wherever you market. You will certainly save yourself money by visiting your closest Indian store.  These spices are versatile and long lasting, so do yourself a favor and pick up a larger bag of all three.  Or, you can always order online.  If you feel so inclined, there are smaller spice purveyors who are making sure working conditions and wages are fair that I highly recommend looking into for the future, including Diaspora Co., Curio, SOS Spices, and Zameen spices, among many others.  I love spending time at SOS Spices in the East Village of New York.  Atef Boulaabi’s shrine to  spices and cooking is tiny, crowded, and beautiful.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Most often there, she is welcoming and ready to talk cooking whether you are a celebrated chef, or a home cook looking to try something new.  I love sharing what I’ve been making, what I want to try, and what I am afraid to try!  Single source spices are super fresh, and she also makes blends that I love.   

Take a smooth, deep breath.  Close your eyes.  Feel the warmth inside you.  Connect to that love that you have for yourself.  Self care can look many ways.  Take good care of yourself.

Equipment

Kettle or pot to boil water

Ingredients

  • -1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • -1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • -1 tablespoon fennel seeds

Steps

  1. Add one tablespoon to a mug of just boiled water.  Cover.  Let steep for five minutes. 
  2. Set a timer and meditate for 5 minutes.  
  3. What a relaxed and focused afternoon you will have!
  4. Strain into a mug, using your strainer.
  5. Add local honey to taste.
  6. Breathe it in and toast your health!

Substitutions

You really can’t substitute – but, if you only have fennel, just chew on that.  A handful or two will help.  

If you only have two out of three, give it a steep – a little is better than nothing.

You can certainly ADD things – ginger, mint, chamomile, tulsi, to round out the flavors and add additional benefits.

Storage

Mix up larger quantities in a glass mason jar.  It will last for several months.

Healthy Hint:  I mix a jar of this and keep it right there with all my teas.  It makes it much quicker to have it when I need it and less to put away.

Healthy Hint: Add a small spoon of local honey and a juicy squeeze of lemon to help you adjust to the taste.  

Beef Keema

Looking for a simple, healthy Indian recipe to throw together any night of the week? Beef Keema is the perfect dinner with its flavorful spice and sauce, quick prepare-time, and versatility with ingredients, diet restrictions, and picky eaters. 

When my kids have friends staying over for dinner, this is my go-to recipe. Well, second to dal, that is. Beef keema is a gateway into what we eat at home–the fastest and surest way to invite guests to LOVE Indian food immediately–with all its subtle spices and fresh ingredients. 

As with most things I cook, this is so versatile and flexible.  Not too many spices — not a problem.  Hate peas (that’s for my little perfect child!) — skip the peas.  Add some spinach.  Not into ground beef…try ground lamb…or ground turkey…or ground chicken.  It’s really all so easy and so doable.  I usually serve it with rice and possibly some quickly chopped, crunchy cucumbers.  I love sprinkling everything with loads of cilantro — but if the littles don’t, leave it out or on the side. We usually serve it with warm rice.  If you are limiting rice for yourself, this dish is perfectly satiating without the rice.  Or, you can make cauliflower rice as well, see my recipe for a seasoned and FLAVOR-packed cauliflower rice. 

This was a go-to in my husband’s house growing up, and still a favorite of his even today.  It is saucy and rich but without the heaviness. Funny story, my sweet mother-in-law, who is an incredible cook, would sometimes call her beef keema “Italian meat sauce” to convince her kids that she could cook “American” food.  While she WOULD serve it over spaghetti noodles, she didn’t switch out the flavors!! My husband and his siblings were not amused!

Additionally, when friends ask me to teach them how to make something or want to experiment with an “easy” recipe, this is the one I share the most often.  It doesn’t have too many spices involved, many are likely to be in your larder for other cuisines, and it really isn’t labor-intensive. I am pretty sure I have a 100% success rate! With both the cooks and the eaters. Bold but true!

This one is saucy and thick, so if you are not eating rice, you honestly won’t miss it.  Give the spinach or kale you are cooking a little bit extra love and serve yourself up a heap of veggies to balance it all.  Another great thing about this beef keema is that it lends itself easily to a variety of eating preferences.  Are you serving kids with different eating styles?  Kids want nothing touching anything else? No Problem. You want a big, spicy bowl with everything tumbled together? No problem.  You are a MAGICIAN!

By now, your house should smell amazing— you likely won’t even have to call the children to the table — they will come running. Dinner is served!

Take a moment to ground yourself with one full deep breath and say a very specific in-the-moment gratitude.  I am so grateful for these friends around my table tonight, I value their support and their kindness.

Enjoy the beauty around your HEALTHY family table! 

Equipment

Medium pot or saucepan, whatever your preference

Wooden spoon to stir

Ingredients

2 tablespoons ghee, butter, grapeseed oil, coconut oil

1 pound of ground, grass-fed beef or lamb

1 cup peas

1 or 2 small shallots, chopped

2–4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 — 2 inches Ginger, grated or finely chopped

½ medium green jalapeno, chopped  (omit if you don’t have and add more red chile)

1 Tablespoon Tomato paste

1/c cup pureed tomato or freshly chopped tomatoes.

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 Tablespoon cumin

1 Tablespoon coriander

1 Tablespoon red chile powder 

Small cinnamon stick

Fresh Cilantro

Salt to taste

Steps

  1. On low, heat a large saucepan or pot, once warm, add the ghee or oil.  Once that is warm, add onions  to begin caramelize, cooking the onions low and slow for 15 minutes, stir, but not too often.  Take a deep breath — the onions will smell sweet and fragrant. MMMMMM….Add the garlic and ginger, stirring, so the garlic doesn’t burn and turn bitter. Sprinkle all the spices and the cinnamon stick.  Stir slowly but continuously to not burn the spices.  Once the spices have bloomed — about 30 seconds or so, add the tomato paste.  Sitr frequently so it doesn’t burn–adding a little water if you need to.  We aren’t cooking as much as trying to expand the flavor profile of the paste and make it taste less “tinny.” 
  2.  Now, add the pureed tomatoes.
  3. Add the ground beef, sprinkle with some sea salt and continue to stir to brown the meat.  Add more water as necessary.  You want it to be saucy but not too thin and soupy. Cover to let the flavors come together and the sauce to become integrated.
  4. After 10 minutes, check and add the frozen peas, if using. Let that cook for just a couple minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, wash and chop the cilantro.  Sprinkle liberally!

By now, your house should smell amazing— you likely won’t even have to call the children to the table — they will come running.

We usually serve it with warm rice.

Substitutions

If you are vegetarian, you can substitute garbanzo beans, kidney beans, or your favorite beans, or whatever you have on hand!  This would then be similar to chole or rajma, also a delicious and hearty meal.

You can substitute tofu as well.  It will be a saucy spicy scramble, which would be lovely served with sauteed greens or warm rice.

For a low carb option, substitute with cauli rice, broccoli rice,  or serve over a bed of sauteed spinach, steamed broccoli, and cauliflower, or our sauteed mushrooms.  If I am not having rice, I actually love eating it without rice.  It’s just as warming and so filling in all the best ways. 

I have made this countless times with other ground meats.  Lamb is traditional, ground chicken is fantastic, ground turkey absorbs the flavors well.  

Storage for Beef Keema

This dish stores really well – in fact, it’s one of those magical dishes that continues to taste better as the flavors continue to come together.  Store in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

Lucky with Leftovers

Beef keema is delicious wrapped in a corn tortilla, cauliflower wrap, whole wheat tortilla, or roti. Throw on some fresh arugula and some warm veggies.  Lunch was never so good.

Recipe: Cilantro Chutney

Cilantro Chutney

The Healthy Family Table

There are certain non-negotiables in life.  For me, to have homemade chutney in the fridge is a MUST.  I love all sauces, but this is my all time favorite.  I love it with Indian food, of course, but I also love how it can LIFT up a bland bowl and make it sing. Add it on top of fresh tomatoes….mmm.  A perfectly toasted piece of bread with butter and chutney is a tiny taste of  heaven.

I keep my chutney recipe simple and often not too spicy. I find that mine lasts well in the fridge, about a week, if we don’t all use it up before!

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch fresh organic cilantro
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 inch jalapeno or more depending on spice level
  • 2 to 3 Tablespoons of water

Wash the cilantro thoroughly.  There is often much dirt and debris.  Chop off the very bottom couple inches where the roots may be.  Discard.  Roughly chop the cilantro, including most of the stems. 

Add to a blender, with jalapenos, sea salt, juice of the lemon.  Start by adding as little water as possible.  Start blending.  Add more water if necessary to keep mixing.  Taste for balance of salt and spice.  It should taste spicy to suit your taste.

Mmmmm…and enjoy!